nothing on you
by Callista Miralni
Summary: Sequel to "of bubble tea, sushi, lists, memories and meetings." For three years, he struggled to live; she refused to dream. In which, Sakura finds a reason to live and Sasuke begins to dream. "You..." "What?" "... are incredible." SasuSaku, AU
1. meetings

nothing on you

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer: I don't own _Naruto_.

This was probably the toughest debate. Should I continue writing _bubble tea_ in the same file or should I create a whole new story?

Stylistically, _bubble tea_ is different than my usual style. If—and when—I was to continue the story, I would have written it the way I usually do, not in the style of rawrchelle.

Then came the second dilemma: do I write from the very beginning of the story or pick up where _bubble tea_ left off?

I wrote out what would have been the first chapter if I started from the very beginning. But I didn't like that because it would have dragged on forever. Why bother telling the same story twice?

So I decided to go with option two. Without further ado, I present _nothing on you.

* * *

_

.:loop00.1_1:.

.:meetings:.

Date: March 28th

The door to the sushi restaurant opened, admitting five teenage girls.

A few things happened at once:

_[In the back corner by the cash register, a tall Korean nudged his shorter Japanese co-worker in the arm, grinning suggestively.]_

In the front, a girl with vibrant purple highlights shot through her dark locks, hugged another girl in the newly-arrived group.

"Happy Birthday Sakura!"

_["You should talk to her." The Korean, a Han Choi, said.]_

The other girl, the one with cherry pink highlighted raven hair, grinned sheepishly. "Thanks Hinata. Although, was it necessary to lock Sai in a closet on his birthday too?"

"Oh screw your brother." The blonde dismissed. "Because what we hope to accomplish cannot be done in the younger twin's presence."

Sakura frowned.

_[The Japanese teen, one Sasuke Uchiha, gave him a pointed look.]_

"Ino..." She said as a warning to her cousin.

The hostess, a Mrs. Chu, interrupted her, waving their party over to a table in the center of the restaurant. "Over here!"

_["Oh c'mon man." Han cajoled. "You know you want to. Quit being an anti-social freak and grab the girl's number. She's practically in the palm of your hand."]_

As they walk towards their designated table, Sakura stiffened when she realized where they're headed.

_Oh no oh no oh no oh no..._

_["She doesn't even like me." Sasuke pointed out. "And she's not in the palm of my hand."]_

"Hey..." Ino leaned forward. "Do you think we'll pull the Paper Boy as our waiter today?"

"OMG, how perfect would that be!" Her other cousin, Tenten Nagasaki, cried excitedly.

Sakura smiled nervously. "Really now?"

_["Just go. Strike up a conversation."_

_Sasuke sighed before leaving Han to do his job.]_

Across the table, Sakura's best friend Shizune Senju, kicked her lightly in the leg and threw her a conspiratorial smile. "Really Saki. Maybe today will be the day when I'll slip him your phone number."

"Shizune, don't you fucking dare-"

Someone cleared his throat, halting their conversation. Looking to her left, Sakura tilted her head upwards and saw _him_ standing there.

_Dammit._

"What would you like to drink?" Their waiter, Sasuke, asked.

"Um... Sprite." Shizune ordered.

"Sierra Mist okay?"

"Yeah."

Tenten can hardly contain her excitement at the sight of their waiter, bouncing up and down in her chair like Tigger. "A Dr. Pepper for me!"

Ignoring her childish display, Hinata ordered a lemonade. Ino paused from perusing the menu. "Just water." She said.

"Lemon with that?" Sasuke looked at her.

"Sure, why not?" Ino shrugged.

Sasuke's gaze settled on Sakura and she gave him a wry smile.

"Is there any point in asking me anymore?"

He smirked at her. "I'll be back with your tea."

* * *

"Anything for dessert?"

"Can I see what's on your menu?" Shizune asked.

Briefly, Sasuke thought about telling the teen that he could have just _told_ her what was on the dessert menu but he decided against it. Turning around, he grabbed a menu lying by the cash register and handed it to Shizune before leaving for the kitchen.

"Paolo," Sasuke approached the chef, "make an order of green tea tempura ice cream."

The Hispanic man grinned at him. "Got it kid. Say, is your girlfriend in today?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sasuke replied over his shoulder, picking up a plate of chicken teriyaki for another table on his way out the door.

"You know," Sakura leaned back in her chair. "I could have just told you what was on the dessert menu, Shizune."

"Hush." The older girl replied. "I want to see for myself. I can't make decisions with my waiter hovering over me like that."

"I thought you wanted to keep him around?" Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"Deciding dessert here Hina!"

"So what _is_ on the dessert menu Saki?" Ino twirled a pen around her thumb.

"Green tea, red bean or taro ice cream or those same flavors with tempura batter over them."

"Tempura ice cream?" Tenten perked up. "I love tempura ice cream. Especially green tea tempura ice cream."

"Dude, that stuff's the best." Hinata agreed.

Closing the menu, Shizune set it down. "So green tea tempura ice cream?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "We always get that. I don't understand why you wanted to see the menu in the first place if you're just going to end up choosing the same thing we always get."

"Whatever Sakura. When you see our waiter, call him over." Shizune dismissed.

"Why do I have to do it?"

* * *

"Sasuke," Han murmured. "Paolo says the ice cream's ready."

Nodding, the teen walked into the kitchen and found what he was waiting for. Picking up five spoons, Sasuke grabbed the plate and headed out into the restaurant.

The girls were waving for his attention, probably to order dessert.

"Green tea tempura ice cream." Sasuke announced, setting the plate in the center and handing a spoon to everyone around the table.

A few of the girls gaped at him in surprise. As Sasuke retreated to his usual post by the cash register with Han and Mrs. Chu, he couldn't help but smirk as he overheard their conversation.

"Woah, he's good." Tenten gaped. "He just asked if we wanted dessert and brought out what we wanted _before_ we ordered it."

Sakura twirled her spoon in the air before scooping up another bite. "It doesn't matter; we end up getting the same thing anyways."

A sharp elbow connecting with his side distracted Sasuke's attention.

"What?" He snapped.

Han leered at him. "So," The older teen wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "You know what they want to order before they order it."

"Your point?"

"I'm just wondering if you know because you've secretly been obsessing over the girl."

Sasuke glared at him before his heel connected with Han's toes.

"Ouch!"

"One ticket?" Sasuke asked as they finish off the rest of their dessert.

"Yeah. And give it to me please." Sakura requested.

Shizune frowned. "Oh no." She chided. "It's your birthday. The birthday girl does not pay."

"Watch me." Sasuke heard Sakura say as he left.

Mrs. Chu rang up their ticket. "Hey, it's that pink haired girl's birthday right?"

His shrugged. "I guess so."

The final receipt printed out and the hostess neatly ripped out of the machine. Stapling it to their order form, Mrs. Chu smiled at Sasuke and said, "Tell her the ice cream is on us."

The teen reached out to grab the folder but she stopped him again. "Sasuke."

"Hn?"

"Be sure to wish her happy birthday. And get her phone number." Mrs. Chu laughed.

He felt the back of his neck grow warm.

"Whatever." Sasuke mumbled before walking away.

Handing Sakura the bill as she requested, Sasuke barely had enough time to move his hand out of the way before Shizune lunged for it across the table. The other girl moved the folder backwards, holding it out of reach.

"This is so unfair." Shizune pouted. "You're shorter than all of us but we can't even snatch the bill away from you."

Sakura laughed as she stuck her debit card inside the black folder. "Get over it." She told her best friend as she handed it back to Sasuke.

Taking it back to the register, Han ran her card through. "Sakura Haruno, huh?" The older teen grins. "Pretty name."

Sasuke ignored his jibes, choosing to walk back to the cardholder.

"By the way," He mentioned as he hands the folder back to the restaurant's regular patron. "The hostess wishes you happy birthday. And that the ice cream's on us."

She paused from reviewing the receipt. "Thank you." Sakura smiled softly before picking up a pen to complete the transaction.

The waiter left their table. "Can I see the receipt?" Ino suddenly asked. Wordlessly, Sakura slid out the order form and passed it to her cousin, still trying to decide what to leave for a tip.

_What should I give? What is fifteen percent of sixty-three? It's about... nine... but._..

And idea struck her.

_One dollar for the treat._

_Two dollars for putting up with my crazy family and friends throughout the years._

_Three dollars for every year we've run into each other._

Glancing up, Sakura smiled when she saw that everyone else with her was preoccupied with re-reading their order. Assured that no one was watching, she flipped over the merchant's receipt and scribbled something on the back before closing the folder.

Nearby, Sasuke moved to pick it up.

"Let's go." She announced briskly, standing up from her chair when she saw Sasuke head their way.

"Hold on." Ino stopped to put the order form back in the folder. "Okay, let's go."

"Thank you for coming!" The hostess waved to them.

"Thanks for having us!" Ino yelled back.

Smiling to herself, Sakura thought about the note she would never under any circumstances write.

But for him, for Sasuke, she's willing to make this one exception.

* * *

Opening up the folder, Sasuke started to input the numbers into the computer. His eyes widened at the $13 dollar tip but he brushed it off. An impression on the back of the receipt caught his eye and he flipped it over.

_Thanks for everything and for making this birthday memorable._

_-Sakura_

He stared at it for a while before smirking and resuming his previous task. On the order form, the one Sasuke used to write down their orders, there was a note addressed to "the Anime Paper Boy."

He knew it was their nickname for him, before Mrs. Haruno had the guts to ask him for his name.

_She's totally going to kill me for this, but here's her number: 7346724468_

_-Ino _

A hand on his shoulder startled Sasuke out of his thoughts, making him wince at the contact. "I knew you could do it." Han grinned before running off with a customer's bill.

Scowling, Sasuke moved to toss the form in the trash but he stopped to rip off Ino's note and slipped it into his pocket.

Maybe, as a reminder of Sakura Haruno, he would keep it just this once.

* * *

Author's Note:

If you guys are super confused, _please_ read _of bubble tea, sushi, lists, memories and meetings._ This entire chapter is lifted from the _meetings_ part of the two-shot.

In a few days, I'll post chapter two, which will be the formal introduction to the story. Please bear with me until then!

Ja ne-

Callista Miralni


	2. olive garden

nothing on you

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer: nothing! XD

* * *

.:loop00.2_1:.

.:olive garden:.

_[name:?]_

SASUKE UCHIHA

_[age:?]_

19

_[date of birth:?]_

07.23.1991

_[are you a full-time student:?]_

YES

_[at which university/college/vocational school:?]_

CANTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE

…

_[please fill out this diversity survey]_

_[nationality:?]_

ASIAN—PACIFIC ISLANDER

* * *

In the back room, Han and Sasuke were taking off their aprons, dressing out into more casual clothes. A slip of white fluttered out of Sasuke's apron pocket and Han dove forward to catch it.

"You _saved_ her number?" Han asked incredulously.

"What's it to you?" Sasuke surveyed him coolly.

"You _do_ like her!"

"No, I don't." Sasuke insisted, reaching out to take the slip back. "Can I have that back?"

"Why do you need it?" Han smirked, holding it out of reach.

"So I can prove to my brother I'm not gay."

"Dude, a piece of paper isn't going to prove that. You gotta call her, text her, and ask her out!"

"Give it back Han."

"In fact," Han continued with his tirade. "I'll save your manliness and text her for you!"

"What the-"

With one leap, Han was by Sasuke's locker and picked up his cell phone form the neat pile at the bottom.

"Han, knock it off."

"You'll thank me later." Han tossed the flip phone to its owner after he was done with it.

"What the hell did you just do?"

"What ever other guy would've done if a hot girl gave him her number."

"You ass—!" Sasuke went through his sent items and saw that Han had indeed texted Sakura Haruno. "What the fuck is your problem?"

_Ring!_

YOU HAVE A NEW MESSAGE.

The number 7346724468 sent the message:

_Um... who is this?_

"Oh good, she answered back." Han snatched the phone out of Sasuke's hand to compose a reply.

"Quit texting on my phone!" Sasuke took it back.

MESSAGE SENT!

YOU HAVE A NEW MESSAGE.

_Sasuke Uchiha? Where have we met?_

Exhaling sharply, Sasuke answered and shoved his phone deep into his pocket.

"What'd she say? Actually, what'd you say?"

"She asked where we had met before."

"And...?"

"I told her an idiot co-worker stole my phone and used it to text her."

"Sasuke!"

His phone range again. Han dove for his pocket but Sasuke was quicker. Opening the screen, he read:

_Where do you work?_

"Tell her!"

"No way."

"Then I'll tell her!" Reaching for his own phone, Han keyed in a quick message.

"You remember her number?"

"It's a gift."

"More like a curse."

Sasuke's phone rang again but it wasn't a text message this time.

**734-672-4468 is calling. Accept?**

"She's calling!" Han skipped around the small room. "She's calling!"

Sighing, Sasuke pressed ACCEPT CALL.

"Hello?"

For a few moments, all Sasuke heard was a shuffling sound, like the back pocket of someone's pants. Then-

"Goddammit Ino—give me back my phone!" A familiar voice yelled through the speaker. "I don't want your hookups calling me!"

"But this isn't for me; it's for you!"

"Ino-pig!"

Sasuke heard the two fight for a while until Sakura's triumphant cry filtered through the line.

"Take that Pig!"

A pause.

"Hello?" Sasuke repeated.

Silence.

"Ino, who the hell did you call and how long have they been listening?"

Ino's faint reply made Sasuke smirk.

"The Anime Paper Boy."

…

"I'm going to kill you!"

* * *

_[name:?]_

SAKURA HARUNO

_[age:?]_

20

_[date of birth:?]_

03.28.1991

_[are you a full-time student:?]_

YES

_[at which university/college/vocational school:?]_

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN—ANN ARBOR

…

_[please fill out this diversity survey]_

_[nationality:?]_

ASIAN—PACIFIC ISLANDER

* * *

The Haruno twins were something special.

For a set of fraternal twins, they looked identical. That's when Sakura started experimenting with different ways to set them apart.

First, it was the style and length of her hair.

Then it was the light brush of make-up on her porcelain skin.

The summer before their high school freshman year, Sakura and their cousin Ino Yamanaka went to the optometrist for their annual appointment and came back with order slips for green and blue contacts respectively.

Even their personal preferences started to deviate. Where Sai was an artist and an avid soccer fan/player, Sakura was a musician and a diehard anime fan. Sai would fondly scold his older sister for clinging onto their childhood but sometimes when Sakura woke up early on Saturday, she could hear the muted strains of the opening theme to _Gundam 00_ floating through the wall between their rooms.

Despite these differences, the Haruno twins were one half of the other.

There was nothing they could hide.

* * *

"You look upset."

"I don't know what you're talking about." His sister grumbled into her pillow.

Sai Haruno kicked the bed frame.

"Sai!" Sakura whined. "Leave me alone to wallow in my mortification."

"No way." Her brother said easily, pulling on her ankle.. "We're about to go out and eat dinner. It's our birthday, remember?"

"How could I forget."

"Don't be like that." Sai chastised. "C'mon Sakura, move your ass."

"I can't go out in public anymore."

Sai exhaled sharply, running his fingers through his dark hair. His sister could be so infuriating at times.

"HEY! PUT ME DOWN SAI!" She shrieked, pounding her fists against his back.

"There's no way in hell I'm going to let you be the reason why I don't eat Italian food on my birthday. Besides, you locked me in a closet earlier." Sai muttered darkly.

"SAI!"

* * *

"Tadaima."

Slipping off his sneakers, Sasuke Uchiha made his way through the dimly lit hallway and into the kitchen.

"Okaeri, Sasuke-chan!" His mother, the ever-exuberant Mikoto Uchiha, swooped in for a hug. "How was work?"

"The same." Sasuke answered, dropping his skateboard to the ground.

The sound of a newspaper folding caught his attention. His older brother Itachi smirked at him from the table.

"Did you get a girl's number today ototou? It's okay if you didn't—Kaa-san's still has some money stashed away for you when Tou-san kicks you out."

"Itachi-kun." The Uchiha matron frowned. "Don't antagonize your brother like tha-"

"Actually," Sasuke interrupted. "I did."

For once, Itachi actually looked surprised. His mother squealed in delight, clapping her hands and bouncing on her feet before smothering Sasuke in another tight embrace.

"Kaa-san... ca..n't... breathe..."

"We must celebrate! When your father gets home, we're going out to eat dinner! How does Italian sound Sasuke? I know you liked eating at that one restaurant we went to for Itachi's twenty-first birthday." Mikoto babbled. "Oh I can't believe it... Sasu-chan's in love with a girl!"

Sasuke groaned, regretting telling his brother and his mother about the day's highlight.

"That's not what it's like at all!" He protested to his mother's last statement.

Hearing Itachi snicker, he rounded on his brother instead. "What's with you?" Sasuke snarled.

"Oh nothing." His brother said innocently. "Now that fund is going to be used for your wedding."

"Itachi!"

* * *

Sakura poked at her pasta with her fork.

"If you're not going to eat your mushroom ravioli, then I will." Sai leaned across the table with his fork in hand.

She swatted his fork away with her own. "Hands off, _little brother._" Smiling, Sakura popped another carefully cut piece of her meal into her mouth.

Satsuki Haruno, their mother, cleared her throat. "So how was lunch with the girls? It's so nice that your cousins flew in during their school holiday to be with you two on your birthday."

To her right, Ino snickered. "It's no problem Satsuki-baa-san. Tenten and I had nothing better to do in California this week."

"Lunch was fine." Sakura answered the question shortly, busying herself with eating.

Tenten started laughing. "Oh, it was more than fine. Lunch was _a-ma-zing._"

"That good, huh? Did you get laid or something?" Sai mumbled through a mouthful of alfredo. He swallowed. "I didn't think you were old enough to get into a male hooker club."

"Sai!" His mother pinched him in the arm. "Don't say things like that. I'm sure your cousins wouldn't even dream of stepping foot in one of those... places."

"For your information," Ino volunteered. "We went to eat lunch with Hinata and Shizune at the sushi restaurant."

"Oh!" Her mother's eyes sparkled. "Was Sasuke there?"

"Yup! And we gave him Saki's phone number." Tenten added.

"A double celebration!" Satsuki clapped her hands together. "Anata, isn't this exciting? You might have that handsome young man courting your daughter!"

Their father sighed. "Sai." He addressed his son. "We need to go to the gym."

"For what?"

Kenji Haruno's gaze darkened. "So we're in top shape to throw that bastard back to Japan."

Swatting her husband in the arm, Satsuki frowned. "Oh don't be dramatic Kenji. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Sakura never dates any boys... though I can't imagine why..."

"Huh." Sakura finally spoke up. "I wonder if it has anything to do with that dating lecture you and Tou-san continue to give Sai and me every six months?"

"Don't be silly Sakura." Her mother waved off the notion. "We just said it's difficult to balance a relationship and school at the same time."

"Which equates to _don't date until graduation_. Face it, Kaa-san; you're only changing your tune because _somebody-"_ She glared at her cousins "-thought it would be funny to give my cell phone number to a complete stranger."

"Hey Saki," Tenten paused. "Isn't that your phone?"

From between Sakura and Ino's chair, they could barely hear Taeyang's _Wedding Dress_. Fishing her phone out from the front pocket, Sakura hastily excused herself and wove her way through the tables to the front of the restaurant.

She hit answer right before the call redirected to voicemail. "Hey Naruto."

"Yo." Her childhood friend greeted her. "Happy Birthday! Tell your asshole of a brother to answer his fucking phone."

"Sorry." Sakura exited the restaurant. "We're eating dinner and he probably couldn't hear it in the restaurant."

"Yeah well, your mom said it was cool if me and the guys took Sai out later tonight. You know, since you did lock him in a closet earlier."

Again with the closet. "That's wasn't me!" Sakura protested. "That was all Tenten. I'm still trying to figure out how she managed to get him to go inside the closet in the first place. I _wanted_ to spend lunch with my brother and he was _supposed_ to invite you and some of the other guys but the girls had other ideas."

"It's cool." Naruto told her. "So where'd you guys go?"

"The sushi place."

"Yeah? Geez Saki, do you ever eat anywhere else?"

"I'm sorry it's my favorite restaurant." She rolled her green eyes. "Forgive me for not having a varied palate."

The other teen laughed. "Lighten up; I was kidding."

"I know."

"So what else happened today?"

"I just found out that my cousins and two best friends thought it would be hilarious to give my cell number to a total stranger."

"No shit? Who'd they give it to?"

"Strangers are strangers for a reason, Naruto." Her lips quirked into a smile. "But they gave it to the Paper Boy."

On the other end of the line, Naruto paused.

"The Paper Boy? That waiter in the restaurant all the girls are obsessed with?"

"Mhmm. They're also obsessed with setting me up with him."

"I see." His voice was curt. "Well, I don't want to keep you from dinner."

"Yeah..."

"So I'll see you later. Tell Sai to call me."

"Yeah. Later Naruto."

Sakura sighed and looked at her phone, forlorn. Things would never be the same between her and Naruto. Whenever one took a step forward, the other took ten back. It was frustrating to be battling the same problem for nearly a year.

"There's no use in thinking about it." Sakura told herself before bumping into someone.

Whoever it was she ran into caught her by the arm and steadied her until she regained her balance. Sakura opened her mouth to apologize and to thank whoever it was for catching her but the words died on her lips.

"It's you..."

* * *

Sasuke was surprised his father actually bought his mother's pathetic excuse for eating out.

"I feel like celebrating the accomplishments of my sons!" Mikoto told Fugaku Uchiha energetically.

He should have known this entire outing was bound to be a disaster. The entire ride to Olive Garden, Itachi wouldn't quit texting him snide comments (which Sasuke thought was a waste of texts since he was sitting next to him in the car) and his mother wouldn't stop turning around once every three minutes to smile brightly at him.

Pulling into the restaurant parking lot, Fugaku cursed. "What are all these people doing out on a Tuesday night?" He muttered while searching for a parking spot.

They passed the entrance and Sasuke thought he saw a head of raven and cherry blossom pink inside the restaurant but he shook it off. He was just seeing things. It had been a long day.

"Found one Tou-san." Itachi finally quit texting him and pointed out a spot directly in front of the glass windows.

The Accord slid into the space. At the curb, Sasuke paused to tie his shoe as his parents and brother walked into the restaurant ahead of him.

Standing up, Sasuke felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He stopped to read the text.

_Move your ass ototou._

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke ignored his brother and shoved his phone back in his pocket. As soon as he started walking, someone crashed into him. Reaching out to steady the other person, Sasuke's brain stopped functioning when he realized who he held by the arm.

"It's you..." Sasuke blurted out.

Sakura Haruno, in her cherry-blossom-highlights-and-green-contacts glory, stared at him in disbelief.

"Hey... um... thanks for catching me. I'm sorry about running into you like that." She composed herself.

"It's not a big deal."

Shoving his hands in his jean pockets, Sasuke debated on asking Sakura Haruno why she was at Olive Garden when he knew by the sports car she and her brother drives the Harunos could easily pay to eat at one of the more upscale Italian restaurants.

"Are you here for your birthday?"

Sakura smiled. "Yeah. It's my twin's favorite place to eat."

"And what's yours?" Sasuke asked even though he already knew the answer.

Laughing, Sakura answered, "Take a guess. We were supposed to eat lunch together with our mutual friends at my favorite restaurant and dinner with the family at Sai's, but that got screwed over when my cousin Tenten locked him in the downstairs closet."

He grinned. "No way."

"Way!" Sakura groaned. "And then... lunch happened. And everything after."

"Hn. I got your note."

She buried her face in her hands. "Oh God..."

"It was nice." He offered. "And your cousin wrote your number on the order form."

"I know." Sakura said miserably. "And she used my phone to text and call you."

"Han used my phone to text you first. Or, I guess it was your cousin he actually texted."

Giggling, Sakura opened her mouth to say something but someone interrupted them.

"Sasuke," Itachi emerged from the restaurant. "Kaa-san is..."

He fell silent at the sight of the two talking.

"What?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"... who's your friend?" Itachi asked instead, his gaze never leaving Sakura's face.

She laughed sheepishly. "Uh... we're not exactly friends. I bumped into him."

"Really?" Itachi looked amused. "Sasuke... maybe you should get her number."

He shot his brother a dirty look.

"I already have her number."

Itachi's grin grew. "Good work ototou. Two numbers in one day. Kaa-san has another reason to celebrate."

"Actually," She timidly spoke up. "I think the first number you're talking about is my number. My idiot cousin gave it to him earlier today."

"I see." Itachi glanced at the restaurant doors. "Well, we better not keep you from your dinner Miss..."

"Sakura." She supplied. "Sakura Haruno." Checking the time on her phone, the girl gasped. "Oh my God, I've been out here for twenty-five minutes already!"

Watching Sakura Haruno sprint away, Itachi looked at his little brother again before leading him to their table.

"So..."

"Shut up Itachi." Sasuke grumbled, narrowly dodging a waiter carrying a tray of food.

"She's pretty."

"Hn."

"And polite. The kind of girl Tou-san would approve of. Is she Korean?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Are you stupid? Her name's _Sakura Haruno._ It can't get any more Japanese than that."

"Even better." Itachi said airily. "Tou-san would _definitely _approve. Where does she go to school?"

"Can you please drop the subject?"

"So you don't know. Shame."

Sasuke found their table in the corner and sank into the empty chair by his mother. "I never said I didn't know."

"So where does she go _ototou?"_

"University of Michigan! Will you please shut up now?"

"Oh my God!" A female voice interrupted their argument. "I can't believe it's _you_! Saki-chan, today must be your good day!"

Sasuke's blood turned to ice.

"We're leaving Ino." Sakura Haruno snapped, pulling her blonde cousin by the arm. "It's rude to interrupt people—especially complete strangers—while they're eating dinner."

She forced a smile on her lips and bowed deep from the waist. "Please excuse my cousin. She has issues understanding personal space boundaries. Enjoy your dinner."

Stunned by their sudden appearance and exit, it took a while before any one of the Uchihas said a word.

"Who was that?" Mikoto breathed out.

"Just some people I see at the restaurant." Sasuke mumbled behind his menu.

"Hey Kaa-san." Itachi mentioned slyly. "You'll never believe it."

Kicking his brother in the shin, Sasuke sent him a warning glare.

"Hmm, Itachi-kun?"

"That pink-haired girl..."

"The super polite one? Oh Sasu-chan, you should date a girl like her. She's polite and pretty! I like her. It's too bad we never got her full name."

"Actually, she's the one-"

"Itachi." Sasuke hissed. "If you know what's good for you, _shut your mouth._"

Mikoto looked scandalized. "Sasuke! Don't be like that to your brother. He has your best interests at heart."

"And pigs fly." The younger Uchiha snorted.

"She's the girl whose number Sasuke got earlier today." Itachi announced loudly.

The table fell silent.

"Hn." Fugaku cleared his throat. "So you're not gay after all."

Sasuke sunk deeper into his chair. How he wished the earth would swallow him whole.

His only comfort was that somewhere in Metropolitan Detroit, Sakura Haruno was facing a similar interrogation and felt just as miserable about the insinuations her family and friends made about their complex relationship. If they even had any semblance of a relationship in the first place.

"Sit up straight Sasuke." His father commanded. "Otherwise, you'll have terrible posture. How are you supposed to marry that girl if you're always slouching all the time?"

Across the table, Itachi smirked and kicked him in the shin. "I told you so." His brother mouthed.

Sasuke groaned and settled deeper into his seat, thinking:

_This is so..._

At the same time, just as Sasuke predicted, Ino, Tenten, and her mother were drilling Sakura about seeing Sasuke at Olive Garden. Pulling at her hair, Sakura gritted her teeth and thought to herself:

… _annoying.

* * *

_Author's Note:

Hey guys! Long chapter for you to make up for the recap that was the previous chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it (as I was hauling ass to finish it before my extremely busy Saturday).

Off to finish (read: start) my Calculus homework. :/

Ja ne-

Callista Miralni


	3. before summer

nothing on you

Callista Miralni

disclaimer: blah blah blah nothing.

Thank you so much for all your love and support! Your reviews and activity (favoriting and alerts) on the fic are so encouraging and motivate me to continue writing. :D

Also, I received an anonymous review I would like to reply to in my author's notes because the reviewer brought up something I probably need to address about everyone's age. I wrote _bubble tea_ and _nothing on you_ because I wanted to try writing a different kind of story. I wanted to explore Sasuke's pre-massacre character and an emotionally conflicted Sakura. I wanted Naruto to be angry and possessive and Hinata to be confident. _bubble tea _and _nothing on you_ are simple stories in compared to the more complex _Cold _and _Spiral._

I didn't know this before (I love my reviewers because they tell me new things all the time!), but Japan has their enrollment cutoffs in April, which would place Sakura in the grade _above_ Sasuke if they had been born in the same year. I usually write Sakura younger than Sasuke because I prefer her to be younger but I guess she is canonically younger than Sasuke given Japanese enrollment cutoffs?

Since Sasuke did immigrate to Michigan when he was still in elementary school, he is _technically_ supposed to be in the grade below Sakura—if he had stayed in Japan. However, the Japanese education system is more rigorous than the American system and any academic placement tests he took would have placed him in a grade higher than what he was in Japan. So if Sasuke was in his third year of elementary in Japan when he left, then the American public school system would view him as a fourth grader when he transferred in based on his high test scores. This isn't always the case, but that's just what I've observed growing up and meeting Asian transfers students and new immigrants.

Just a tidbit of information I felt like sharing with you. :) Thanks again to **Me** for bringing that up!

OH YEAH—I'm stupid and made a mistake.** Sasuke and Sakura are 19 and 20, not 18 and 19**. The previous chapter has been edited to reflect the change but some people may have not caught that.

Onward!

* * *

.:loop00.2_2:.

.: before summer:.

The door to the restaurant opened.

"Welcome!" Mrs. Chu greeted them.

Sasuke looked up, wondering who their latest customers were when he heard:

"_Sasuke!"_ The girl exclaimed and waved at him frantically.

"Pipe down." Their bleached-haired friend snickered. "People are staring."

Mrs. Chu glanced sideways at him. "You want me to seat them in your area?"

He shrugged. "It's up to you."

The older woman smiled at the younger employee before directing his friends to a table along the wall. Sasuke sighed before walking over to them.

"What can I get for you to drink?"

"You know," Suigetsu Hoshizuki smirked. "I kinda like this waiter-Sasuke thing. You would never offer to get me a drink unless your mother was eavesdropping at the door."

"Sasuke," Karin Fujiwara smiled, pinching Suigetsu in the arm. "I'll take a hot tea."

At those words, Sasuke immediately replied, "Why do I even bother asking you anymore?"

"What?" Karin laughed. "I usually drink _iced_ tea Sasuke. Are you okay?"

Flushing, Sasuke scribbled Karin's drink down. "Yeah. It's been a long day."

"You just started your shift." Juugo Makenshi frowned. "And it's lunch time."

The restaurant door opened again and Sasuke froze when he heard the familiar medley of voices.

"Welcome back!" Mrs. Chu gestured to the table by Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo's. "Just two?"

"Whoa!" Suigetsu gaped at the next table over. "Check out her hair!"

"Stop staring—it's rude." Karin hissed even though her eyes were glued onto the back of the teen sitting across from the object of her best friend's attention. "Hey... doesn't he look a lot like Sasuke?"

"I'll be back with your drinks." Sasuke moved to his new customers.

"Can I borrow your cell phone?" Karin hollered at his retreating back.

He gave her an annoyed wave as a "yes," and breathed in deep to rearrange his features into a pleasant mask before stopping at his next table.

Sai Haruno surveyed him coolly as Sasuke repeated his standard question. "A Dr. Pepper for me." The other teen requested. "And I think we're ready to order?"

They looked at Sakura, engrossed in her menu. Glancing upwards at everyone staring at her, she uttered, "Huh? Oh yeah, we're ready."

Turning to a new page, Sasuke nodded for Sai to go ahead.

"I'll have a chicken teriyaki." Sai leaned back in his chair.

Sasuke's gaze shifted to his sister. "Hot tea and Udon please." Sakura sighed and shut the menu, handing it back to Sasuke.

It was then that Sasuke noticed the blue book bag in the empty chair beside her. Sakura pulled out a spiral notebook (_Sasuke smirked when he saw _Phineas and Ferb_ on the cover_) and a sheaf of papers from a matching folder from the bag. "Oh my God..." She groaned. "I'm not ready for this test..."

* * *

"Sasuke." Karin stopped him after he brought them their lunch. "Is that the girl Itachi-nii was telling us about?"

His jaw almost dropped but Uchihas don't loose their cool like that so easily.

"_What?"_

"Did you bring me your phone? I lost Idate's number." His best friend changed the topic, holding her hand out impatiently. Sighing, Sasuke dropped his phone into her palm.

"Hey..." Suigetsu squinted. "She does fit Itachi-nii's description... is that her? She's pretty hot, weird hair and all."

"Like you're one to talk." Karin snorted. "You bleached your hair _white_."

"I lost a bet with Sasuke." The other teen defended his hair color. "Besides, Juugo dyed his hair brown-"

"-only it sure as hell didn't turn out that way!"

"-and you have a reddish tint in your hair." Suigetsu continued, undeterred. "I don't get why your picking on me."

Karin pushed her glasses up higher on her nose. "Because it's easy."

"Can I leave now?" Sasuke demanded. "I have other customers."

"It's her." Juugo confirmed. "I heard the guy she's with call her Sakura."

Groaning, Sasuke moved to the other table, ignoring Karin's shriek of delight and her outburst of "OMFG—SASUKE'S GOT A GIRL!"

* * *

"Anything for dessert?"

Sakura ignored him, going over her notes, her lips moving in silence as she mouthed formula after formula.

"Yeah." Sai sighed. "One green tea ice cream. Uh... without whip cream for my sister please."

"Two spoons?"

"Sure why not?"

When he left, Sai glared at his twin across the table.

"Sakura." He reached over and slid her Chemistry notes out of her hands. "I didn't invite you to lunch in _Canton_ so you could study."

"My test is on Monday!" The older Haruno grumbled. "And I'm not ready at all. Oh my God, what if I fail this exam? I'll get my ass handed to me by Tou-san!"

"You're lying." Sai told her flatly. "You're studying during lunch so you can avoid contact with the Paper Boy."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sakura insisted, taking her notes back.

Sai exhaled softly before shaking his head. "Denial's your favorite river in Egypt."

He winced when Sakura's foot connected with his shin.

"Green tea ice cream." A glass bowl interrupted their fight.

Resigned, Sakura accepted the spoon from Sasuke, their fingers brushing. "Thanks."

He tried to ignore the tingling in his fingers.

"Let me know if you need anything."

* * *

One table over, Karin tilted her head forward, allowing the curtain of red-tinted hair to hide her cell phone pressed hotly against her ear.

"It's her!" She exclaimed giddily, trying to keep her voice down as she waited for the line to pick up.

"How do you know?" Suigetsu demanded.

Sighing in exasperation, Karin cancelled the call. "Remember when I asked Sasuke for his phone earlier? I told him I was looking for Idate Morino's number-"

"Your lab partner?" Juugo raised an eyebrow.

"-yeah, him." Karin quickly clarified. "But Itachi-nii told me her name was Sakura Haruno so I looked for that name in Sasuke's phone book."

"I bet it wasn't there." Suigetsu checked his own phone for the time.

"But it was!"

"You lie! Let me see this!"

Passing him Sasuke's phone, Karin went back to her previous task of dialing this Sakura's cell number. The phone started to ring.

"Holy fuck." Suigetsu's eyes went wide. "He really does have a Sakura in his contacts."

"Look!" Karin nudged him. "That girl looking for her phone!"

Juugo turned around to look as well. "It really is her..."

"Hello?" Karin heard in her ear at the same time she saw the other girl's lips form the greeting. "Who is this?"

"Is this Idate Morino's cell phone number?"

The other girl looked confused. "No... sorry. I think you have the wrong number Miss."

"Wait—is this 7346724468?"

"Yeah..." She drew out the word. "That's this number."

"And you are...?"

"Sakura Haruno. Listen, are you sure that's Idate Morino's number?"

"Not sure." Karin faked a concerned frown. "Maybe I can't read my best friend's handwriting?"

"Maybe?"

"Oops. Sorry for bothering you."

"It's no problem. I was just finishing up lunch so it wasn't a big deal. Well, I hope you get a hold of your friend."

Karin smiled. "Thanks."

She shut her cell phone triumphantly. "What now?" The redhead crowed.

"That was pretty good Karin." Juugo leaned forward. "Not only did we get to see Sasuke at work but we also got to meet his future love interest."

"We didn't exactly _meet_ her." Suigetsu grumbled. "We _saw _her."

"Same difference. I got to talk to her on the phone." Karin sniffed. "I like her; she seems nice enough. Oh Sasuke," She stopped their friend on his way to the Harunos' table with their check. "Here's your phone back."

Slipping the black flip phone into his pocket, Sasuke muttered, "I'll be back with your ticket in a second."

Eyeing her, Suigetsu flicked Karin in the arm. "You did something, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"She looked up Sakura's number and took a picture of me." Juugo said.

Her devious smile grew. "That's not all I did."

From the next table over, they heard Taeyang's _Wedding Dress_ blaring from the table. The dark-haired boy, Sakura's brother, picked up his sister's phone to look at the caller ID.

"Who the hell is Sasuke Uchiha?" The trio heard the boy say at the same time Sasuke stiffened and his free hand twitched towards the pocket holding his cell phone.

"I'll take care of your check when you're ready." Sasuke set the folder upright on the table before running to the cash register to pick up his friends' bills.

[_"Sasuke Uchiha? I have no idea. When was the first time I dialed that number?"_

_He pressed a few buttons. "On our birthday, it says."_

"_Birthday? What the... oh no."_

"_What?"_

"_Ino called the Paper Boy on our birthday from my phone."_]

"Not funny Karin." Sasuke hissed as he handed her the black folder. Glancing over his shoulder, Sasuke saw his co-workers were too pre-occupied with their duties to be looking his way. He pulled out his cell phone and ended the call before looking at the time on the screen.

"Karin." The Uchiha hissed between his teeth. "This _really_ isn't funny."

"What?" His best friend said innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Change it. _Now._ And delete it off my phone."

Pouting, Karin took the phone back, clicked a few buttons and shoved it back at Sasuke. "Here's your boring phone back."

"Thank you." Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll be your cashier when you're ready."

Suigetsu waited until he left before launching at Karin. "What did you do?"

Smug, the girl took out her own phone and showed the last text message to the guys. "I changed his wallpaper to this. Sasuke has a pretty decent camera on his phone, you know."

Juugo laughed softly. "No wonder why he was so upset. How'd you pull off the phone call?"

"Oh that's easy." She waved her hand. "All I did was dial the number, put it on speaker, and lower the volume to nil so you couldn't hear it ringing over the noise of the restaurant. Sasuke has that kind of phone where even if you close it during speaker phone, it's still dialing or calling or whatever."

"Geez!" Suigetsu groaned. "You put too much thought into this!"

* * *

"Tadaima"

The house was dark, save for the lone light coming from the kitchen

"Itachi, what the hell are you wasting your time with?" He heard his father say angrily. "I paid for your college tuition under the pretense that you're going to get an education and a good job but what do I hear? My co-worker sees you at a bar in the middle of the night screeching away on that ridiculous guitar you wasted your money on. And then you tell me you want to make music. Music! You can't live off of that son. After all, you're in line for an assistant manager position at that restaurant you work at."

"Well obviously, I don't work there anymore."

"Itachi!"

"Music is what I'm good at." Itachi said.

"Do something worthwhile, Itachi, and secure. You'll do well in business."

"In case you forgot, Otou-san-" Sasuke cringed, knowing what would be out of his brother's mouth next "-but we're not in Japan anymore. There is no family business for me to take care of. Even if there was, you still have Sasuke."

"Itachi, I'm trying to help you-"

"From making your mistakes? Face the facts Otou-san; this isn't about preventing me from ruining myself. This is all about you and your stupid pride. You don't want a son who failed."

"Itachi!"

"I will be a musician." Itachi vowed coldly. "But just so that you sleep at night, I'm taking up a job in a recording studio. I hope you're ready to pay the consequences, Otou-san. A disgruntled son is difficult to deal with."

Sasuke heard his brother leave the kitchen but he made no effort to hide or pretend he wasn't eavesdropping. When Itachi passed by his younger brother standing mute in the entry way with his skateboard still in hand, he smiled bitterly. Reaching out, Itachi poked him in the forehead.

"I'm pathetic ototou." The elder said softly. "I dream and dream and can't go anywhere."

Sasuke said nothing in response. Sighing, Itachi left and walked back to his room.

"Baka." Sasuke murmured. "That's why it's better not to dream at all."

* * *

"I don't know how you do it." Karin groaned over her filled backpack. "All you do is study and work. Shit, I bet that if we all didn't go to Canton Community together, we'd never see you at all."

Sasuke chuckled humorlessly across the table. It had been a week since his father and his brother argued and things in the Uchiha house were considerably more tense. At every given opportunity, Sasuke stayed away from home, taking on more hours at the sushi restaurant or studying in the college library with his friends.

"Unlike you, I'm naturally brilliant."

"Egotistical pig."

"It's true though." Juugo yawned. "You weren't class salutatorian."

"But he wasn't valedictorian either." Karin countered. "Amy Lipinski was."

"Only 'cause she cheated off of me." Sasuke smirked. "And she was involved in campus activities."

Feeling like tearing her hair out, Karin dropped the subject and went back to her homework. "Where's Suigetsu?" She mused aloud over the next question.

"Making out with some girl probably." Sasuke shrugged. "I saw him with whatsherface in his math class earlier."

Karin made a disgusted face before abandoning her homework once again. "Are you ready for summer break? You guys have any plans?"

"Work." Sasuke answered immediately.

"Nothing." Juugo offered. "What about you?"

The girl sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Nothing. Too poor to travel."

"Except to Canada right?" Sasuke grinned.

"You're never too poor to go to Canada!" Karin exclaimed. "I bet Sakura Haruno has lots of summer travel plans. I'm so jealous."

She missed the way Sasuke tensed in his seat.

"Well, I guess that's what happens when you're lucky enough to have parents with a good job." Juugo said. "She really is lucky."

"The only one of us with a remotely decent amount of money is Sasuke. But your parents are so hellbent on saving for everything under sun that you're about as broke as the rest of us." The rosette laughed.

Weakly, Sasuke laughed along with them but his thoughts were in overdrive. It was true that the Uchihas were far from destitute, not with his mother working as a nurse and his dad in a supervisor position with the Affinia Group. However, a sizable portion of their money went towards repaying the debts caused by the crash of the then-budding Uchiha Group. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to add onto his parents' financial burdens, Sasuke knew he could have gone to U of M beginning his freshman year with or without financial aid.

"Hey what time is it?" Sasuke deftly changed the subject.

"4:10."

"Shit!" He stood up hastily and began shoving his books back in his bag. "I need to go to work!"

"You want a ride?" Juugo offered. "I'm thinking about going home too."

"And you're going to leave me here?" Karin pouted. "Fine. I guess I'll go home too."

"If you don't mind." Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. "I have to be there by 4:30 in time for the dinner rush."

"It's not a problem. We should probably leave now."

"Yeah..."

* * *

"Have fun with Sakura-san." Juugo waved to Sasuke as he hopped out of his car.

"Not you too!" Sasuke groaned. "There's nothing going on man."

"Whatever. Just admit you have a crush on her." Karin laughed. "I mean, seriously, why'd you even save her number in your phone if you didn't like her?"

Onyx narrowed. "You snooped."

"Oops. Did I say that aloud?"

"I'll deal with you later." Sasuke glared at her. "Thanks for the ride Juugo."

At the sound of the opening door, Han looked up at him from counting the cash register. "Yo. It's about time you showed up. You're usually here at four."

"Sorry." Sasuke shifted his backpack higher on his shoulder. "I was studying in the library and lost track of time."

"It's not a big deal." The older man shrugged, following Sasuke into the backroom. "It's just... unusual."

"Huh?" Sasuke's voice was muffled by the shirt he was pulling over his head. "Unusual?"

"Well, you're never late."

"I guess there's a first for everything."

"And you've scheduled yourself in for almost the entire summer." Han pointed out, glancing at the paper taped onto the wall.

"So?"

"Are you crazy?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he tied his apron around his waist. "No. Why is that such a big deal?"

"No normal teenager wants to work his summers away."

"I guess I'm not normal." Sasuke answered shortly. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be the host for tonight?"

"Damn!"

Following at a more leisurely pace, Sasuke pushed aside the curtain and looked out into the restaurant. Sakura Haruno's parents and her twin brother stood at the entrance, looking quite at home in the small restaurant.

"Three?" Han inquired.

"Four actually." Mr. Haruno grunted.

Han looked back at Sasuke and threw him a sly smirk. "Right this way, sir."

After they had ordered their drinks, Sakura Haruno rushed through the doors, spotted her family immediately and sank into the empty chair. "Sorry I'm late." She breathed out.

"Saki-chan, you said you'd meet us at home." Her mother frowned.

"I know, I know. But Naruto-"

"You were with Naruto?" Sai interjected.

She gave him a puzzled look. "I told you that I was going to help him buy a gift for his girlfriend."

"Can I get you a glass of water?" Sasuke smoothly cut in, taking note of her flushed apperance.

"Please. And a cup of hot tea."

As he filled up an empty glass with ice and water, the last few minutes played back in his head. Groaning, Sasuke felt like hitting himself.

"Can I get you a glass of water?" He mimicked under his breath. "Yeah Sasuke, you definitely sound like you're not hyperaware of her every movement. A glass of water, my ass..."

* * *

Author's Note:

Hello! Sorry for the wait.

I really don't like this chapter for several reasons. One, it was very difficult to write things about Sasuke only (I want to write SasuSaku—yeah!). Two, _nothing interesting happened._ T_T

Thank you all who have read, reviewed, favorited, and put _nothing on you_ on alerts! I'm overwhelmed by your support.

Ja ne!

Callista Miralni


	4. best friends

nothing on you

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer: nothing! Hahahaha, get it?

[I'm so lame, I'm cracking stupid jokes now... T_T]

* * *

.:loop00.2_3:.

.: best friends :.

"Sakura-chan~" Lily Southward danced around her. "It's time!"

She shrugged her friend off. "Time for what?"

"Oh don't be like that!" Lily exclaimed. "Playing ignorant doesn't suit you, sweetheart. After all, when it comes to me, what else could it be time for?"

"Lily, I really have no fucking clue what you're talking about," Sakura leveled her gaze. "Stop being obnoxious and just tell me."

Pouting, Lily cajoled her into guessing. "Just take a guess, Sakura-chan," she begged. "After all, there aren't that many things it could be..."

"It could be a ton of things," Sakura reasoned. "Cosplay work, con, a new book, a movie to watch, a new CD... Just tell me already."

"It's time..." Lily paused dramatically.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"... to eat sushi!"

The Haruno girl froze.

_Oh hell no...

* * *

_

Sasuke bussed the table in front of the door, stacking plates on a serving tray before wiping the whole table down with disinfectant. He moved back just before the restaurant door hit him on the ass.

"Why did I agree to this again?" Sakura grumbled.

Lily grinned. "Because you _love~_ me."

"You have a girlfriend," Sakura noted wryly. "Why isn't Sempai here with us?"

Pouting for the millionth time that day, Lily frowned. "I can't spend time with my best friend? Oh Saki, you're cruel sometimes. No wonder why no guy feels like they have a chance with you."

"More often than not, they _don't_ have a chance in the first place. I'm married already, remember?"

"To a guy who lives an entire ocean away. You sure know how to pick 'em Sakura."

Sasuke tensed. She's _married?_ At _their_ age?

"I mean, c'mon, you're married to a Korean pop star," Lily laughed. "You're such a hopeless romantic!"

Laughing with her, Sakura clarified, "For starters, Kim Bum is _not_ a Korean pop star. He's an actor. Second, I'm _not_ a hopeless romantic; _you_ are."

"Prove it!"

"You got the love of your life after waiting and moping around for two years before she noticed you as someone more than a friend."

Pouting, Lily stuck her nose in the air. "Fine! Fine! I give—I'm a hopeless romantic."

"Glad we can agree on that."

"Mou... Sakura-chan. You're so mean."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura pushed her best friend ahead of her as Ms. Chu waved them to a table near the back. "Tough love, babe. It's part of my charm."

They took their usual places—Sakura sat in the left corner chair facing the kitchen, Lily took a seat across from her. As the two girls chatted about silly things, Han came by their table with a cup of hot tea and asked Lily what she wanted to drink. Sakura laughed when he set the cup down on the table, thanked Han, and dumped two packets of sugar her cup.

Hearing her laugh put Sasuke at ease. The inner tension seemed to melt away. How could anything be wrong in the world if _she's_ able to smile?

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hey Saki!" Naruto's voice on the phone cheerfully greeted her. "What are you doing today?"

Sakura stopped reaching for the orange juice in the fridge. "Why?"

"I was thinking about hanging out. You, me, and your brother. You guys are always busy doing other things..."

Her heart couldn't stop hammering in her chest. Was this it? Was this the return to normalcy between her and Naruto she dreamed of for the last three years?

"Um... I think we were heading out to Ann Arbor this morning. It's pre-finals week and we need to study," she answered sadly. "Sorry Naruto."

"Nah, it's cool," the other teen replied. "I should probably study too."

"Yeah, probably."

"See you around, Saki."

"Okay. Later, Naruto."

Sakura ended the phone call and dropped the device on the counter. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

Even after all these years, after all the fighting and the cold shoulders, Naruto still had the ability to render her speechless with the smallest gestures.

How did it start? How did things foul up between them? Sakura knew the answer for sure, but did Naruto?

More importantly, why couldn't she let it _go?

* * *

_

-FOUR YEARS AGO-

"_What do you think you're doing, bastard?"_

"_Go away Sakura."_

"_Answer me!"_

"_..."_

"_NARUTO!"_

"_Don't come near me."_

It was like a bad dream — Sakura Haruno tried to convince herself.

He didn't leave her. He never left. In the morning, everything will be all right again.

"Sakura?"

Her twin's muffled voice filtered through the layers of blankets she surrounded herself with.

"Sakura, are you okay?"

On the other side of the door, Sai Haruno felt his heart break.

* * *

_[name?]_

The form was almost mocking. Picking up her head, Sakura penciled in:

_[Sakura Haruno]_

Her eyes skipped to the next question.

_[age?]_

_[16]_

_[nationality?]_

_[Asian—Pacific Islander]_

"You will have forty-five minutes for the Reading section. I will warn you when five minutes remain. Start..."

Her eyes were dull with grief.

"... now."

_This test was everything.

* * *

_

In the next room over, Sai heard his twin sister's muffled sobs.

He wanted to crawl into her bed like they did when they were children and cling onto each other like a lifeline. That's what happened when Sakura was bullied in kindergarten. That's what happened when Sai's painting got ripped off the wall and shredded to pieces in second grade. That's what happened when their dog died, when Tou-san got mad at them, when they needed someone to pick them up after the reality of the world came crashing upon them.

Getting up, Sai knocked on her door.

She didn't answer.

Opening the door, Sai saw a lump curled up on the center of her bed.

"Fuck off Sai."

Her voice was throaty.

He sat at the edge of her bed and peeled off the covers. Immediately, Sakura sat up to pull them back over herself but Sai grabbed her around the middle and cradled her in his arms.

"I'm not going to leave you when you need me the most."

Tears rushed to the surface as she buried her face in her twin's shoulder and cried.

"Why does it hurt so much?"

* * *

The results came in.

"What is this?" Kenji Haruno brandished the paper before his daughter's eyes.

"I don't know," she answered dully.

"This is a disgrace," Kenji snapped. "I didn't send you and your brother to that prep class for nothing."

"It wasn't _for nothing,_ Tou-san."

"Then what is this?" He bellowed. "Why is it that your brother seems to have benefitted from it and you haven't? Look—30, 31, 31, 32, 33 composite score. Whereas you, Sakura, received a 31, 29, 35, 33, and a 32 composite score. What's different?"

"Sai got a point higher."

"Sai shows _improvement,"_ her father said frostily. "Where you show lower marks. Is this cosplay thing you're involved with taking too much of your time?"

Something in her eyes snapped.

"It has nothing to do with it."

"You said it wouldn't interfere."

"And it _hasn't,_" Sakura exclaimed hotly. "Why can't you just believe me when I say I had an off-day that day?"

"You don't have off-days when it comes to standardized exams."

"Well, _I_ do."

"Don't speak to me like that."

"You don't believe me!"

"That's it." Her father slammed the score report onto the kitchen counter. "You're grounded. And you can forget about going to that anime convention next month."

"You can't do this to me! I already paid to go!" Sakura was borderline hysterical.

"Maybe you should have thought about that while you taking this test." Kenji answered coldly before leaving his daughter in the kitchen.

* * *

Satsuki Haruno knocked on her daughter's door.

"Hinata's on the phone."

She looked up from her calculus homework. "What does she want?" Sakura asked dully.

Her mother threw her a worried glance.

"I didn't ask."

Sighing, Sakura got out of her chair and plucked the phone out from her mother's hand.

"Hello?"

She asked wearily.

On the other end of the line, she could hear Hinata sobbing.

"_Just... take me away... I can't stand it, being locked here in this house with him. He's changed so much... he's not the same person anymore. I don't recognize this asshole standing in front of me."_

Sakura looked at the clock. 10:15 PM.

"I can't."

* * *

Sai pulled up to the curb of their private high school, the Bishop's Academy, in their Nissan 350 Z convertible.

"Sakura."

She stopped. Sai tossed her something through the open air and Sakura caught it easily.

"What's this for? I'm grounded, remember?" She dangled the remote starter of their Toyota Prius.

Sai shrugged, slamming the car door shut.

"Tou-san changed his mind. He's dropping off the Prius later. And Kaa-san's packing all your clothes. You did finish that costume you were supposed to do, right? 'Cause she's just packing whatever you left in the crate labeled 'FOR THE CON.' Honestly Sakura, you need a better organization system."

Her purse, a white Coach handbag her mother disapproved of after Labor Day, clattered to the asphalt.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you Sai; you're the best brother a girl could ask for." She hugged him tightly.

As he hugged her back, Sai's mind flashed back to the conversation he had with his parents a few days before.

"Can Sakura go to that anime con?"

"Absolutely not." Kenji threw out over his newspaper.

"Why not?" Sai challenged. "It's not like her grades are in a free fall. Sakura's proven for the last two years that she's perfectly capable of juggling her hobbies and her homework at the same time."

"You know why, Sai."

"The ACT is a hard test. She got nervous and freaked out. I don't see why you have to punish her for that."

"This is more than just a test, Haruno Sai." His father set the paper down and leveled his gaze on him, switching languages at the same time. "This is instrumental to deciding your future. Neither you or Sakura can take it lightly. I'm not blind—Sakura's been spending more time sewing or going out with her friends than she does studying."

Sai glared. "I spend more time than she does out of the house because of soccer practice. _And_ I go out with my friends."

"What's your point Sai?"

"Do you have any idea what has been going on in your children's lives as of late?"

Kenji paused. "Well, Sakura's phone bill has gone down while yours has gone up. Are you dating someone?"

"No," Sai ground out between his teeth. "And you're not even curious as to _why_ Nee-san's near constant bill is fluctuating?"

"If Sakura wants to share something with me, then she's more than welcome to."

"Doesn't Kaa-san ever tell you anything?"

"That is between your mother and me."

"Dammit!" Sai yelled in English. "Pull up our phone bills from the past year and tell me who's on it. When you realize what's missing, you know how to find me."

The next day, when Sakura was out running around town with Lily or somebody, both of his parents hauled him to the kitchen table after he got home from soccer practice.

"Your father told me about the conversation you two had," his mother began.

He kept silent.

"And we wanted you to know that we both are completely aware of the Naruto situation. But what I don't understand is why your sister going to that con has anything to do with her estrangement from Naruto."

Sai let out a harsh laugh.

"You don't _get it_, do you? Anime, manga, cosplay... that's all that's really keeping Sakura together. If she doesn't have something to focus her energy into, she'll be crying her eyes out every night before she goes to sleep. There's only so much studying a kid can do," Sai added in the last part when he saw his father open his mouth to contradict him.

"Her little group of otaku freaks... they're safe. They are completely separated from the Japanese-American community we've built up and been a part of throughout the years. When Sakura's with them, she can forget whatever happened last summer. I _know_ my sister... she needs to stay away so she can compose herself. All you're doing is tearing whatever progress she's made since then apart."

His parents sat in silence before his father tossed him a set of keys through the air and barely nodded.

"Go."

* * *

Running around the Sheraton Hotel in full costume, under layers of clothing, make up, and a wig, Sakura felt a little bit more like herself than she had in months.

Ironic — she thought as she smiled for another camera lens — for Sakura looked _nothing_ like herself.

She was dressed as Yuna from Final Fantasy X, one of her usual green contacts replaced with a striking blue. The white wedding dress she wore made her feel like a princess but the heels were murder on her feet.

_Is this really the kind of person I am?_ Sakura wondered to herself as her best friend Kira led her through the crowd of people in the dealer's room.

_Can I only be myself when I'm hidden behind a mask?

* * *

_

It was winter break.

Sakura dreaded the downtime, wishing her family was leaving earlier for their trip to Colorado to visit her mother's relatives. On the Sunday before the Christmas holiday, _they_ were having an early party.

She hadn't seen any of the "Asians" since the summer and the occasional hellos in the packed hallways at Bishop's. Her brother, on the other hand, had seen their childhood friends more often but not as much as he used to.

"Yo, my man! It's been a while!" A bleached blonde teen bumped fists against Sai's. "How've you been? You play Assassin's Creed 2 yet?"

"Dude, Saki gave it to me the day it came out. But Coach has been working us to death this season and I haven't gotten to play it much."

"Saki gave it to you? For what? Your sister's a bitch when it comes to money."

Sai frowned slightly before laughing it off. "You know that's not true Naruto. I'm the one with a close eye on my wallet."

The blonde — one Naruto Uzumaki — flinched momentarily. "Is that so? I never noticed."

"Really?" Neji Hyuuga joined their conversation. "You should know better than all of us. Saki used to treat you all the time."

"So why'd she give it to you?" Naruto steered the conversation away from that sensitive topic.

"I talked Tou-san into letting her attend a con," Sai shrugged, helping himself to a plate of food.

"And that merited a brand-new game? Lucky... I wish your sister was my sister," Naruto stated enviously.

Sakura choked on her soba stir fry when she heard that. Hinata Hyuuga gave her a strong whack on her back to help dislodge the food stuck in her throat.

* * *

She climbed in behind her brother into the backseat of their mother's Toyota.

"Isn't this exciting?" Her mother gushed. "It's like the old days, when you two used to be dependent on your mother for everything. Rides, food, money... now you two don't need rides from me anymore."

"Kaa-san," Sai shook his head. "You're being dramatic."

"Whatever you say, Sai-kun. I have a special treat for you two today."

"What is this treat?" Sakura sarcastically asked. "Is it such a big deal that you had to take away the car keys and make us look like total losers in front of the whole school?"

Their mother laughed. "Oh Saki-chan, you'll thank me later. We're here."

She and her brother looked out the window. "Tapioca Express?" Sai read the sign.

Her brother opened the door and they stepped inside the cool restaurant.

"Welcome to Tapioca Express!"

* * *

That was the day she first met _him._

Sasuke Uchiha.

Her life would never be the same again.

Then again, Sakura smiled softly to herself, she wouldn't have it any other way.

_As one chapter closes, another brighter one begins._

It's time to close these teenage, angst-riddled years.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Well... this sucks. Truly. But it was unfortunately necessary. The entire flashback was actually the initial draft for the first chapter. I thought it was necessary for readers to emotionally understand why things are so complicated between Sakura and Naruto in the first place [but I never told you what happened either! XD].

Thank you for reading! And to all my reviewers for their continued support. Don't be afraid to leave a comment-I love hearing from you! :D

Ja ne!  
Callista Miralni


	5. books

nothing on you

Callista Miralni

Disclaimer: I don't own _Naruto_.

* * *

.:loop00.3_1:.

.:books:.

Sasuke would never publicly admit it, but he loved to read.

He never thought he'd be able to get away from the inquisitive stares of his family. Under the pretense of driving to Ann Arbor to check out the university campus before he completed the paperwork to transfer there in the fall, Sasuke borrowed his mother's Honda and sped off down I-94.

Passing through Ypsilanti, he realized that he could make the most of his day out by making an extended stop at one of Ann Arbor's bookstores. He heard from his best friend Suigetsu, who used to have an aunt in the city, that the biggest Borders in the country was located on the corner of Liberty and Maynard.

Now... to find the place without asking for directions.

* * *

Rubbing her eyes, Sakura looked over the document on her MacBook and hit CMD+S with two fingers. It was done—the next chapter of her latest fanfiction. She hadn't had the time to write with studying for finals and taking all her tests.

Her last exam was this morning but Sakura had to wait for Sai to take his last exam at six before she went home to Canton. The twins packed up their dorms the week before, leaving only the necessities to get through the last week of school. Sai had the keys to the Prius, leaving Sakura bored for most of the day.

Borders was her best choice to kill time. She could either sit in the cafe and work on her laptop or read books from the shelves. A small pile of manga and teen paperbacks were neatly stacked on the table beside her pens and papers with scribbled scenes for her story.

She sighed and looked out the window. Downtown Ann Arbor was practically empty. A black Honda slid into a parallel parking spot in front of the store and the driver emerged from the car. Sakura paused, blinked a few times, and took another look at the driver walking on the sidewalk to the main entrance.

"No fucking way."

* * *

He finally found it.

After walking around the silent university campus, Sasuke met up with his advisor to finalize all the paperwork for his transfer.

"Are you interested in joining any clubs?" She asked him before he left.

Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe? I hadn't thought about it."

Mrs. Jacoby leaned over and grabbed a sheet out of the file cabinet behind her. "You might want to take a look at this." She handed it to him. "U of M has hundreds of clubs and student organizations. The one I think you might be the most interested in is AASA, the Asian American Student Association. They meet regularly and host cultural events on campus that are lots of fun to go to. Plus, if you get involved, it's something else to put on your resume."

He tucked the sheet into the folder she gave him earlier. "I'll look over it. Thank you for meeting with me today."

"Oh it's no problem!" Mrs. Jacoby laughed. "I'm glad you came in actually; most of our transferees don't live in the immediate area and we have to do all this paperwork over email and phone calls instead. Are you planning on going around the city later?"

"Ah... yes."

"Be sure to ask Mrs. Kellen at the front desk for a map of downtown. There's lots of things to see in Ann Arbor that I'd hate for you to miss."

_Well,_ Sasuke smirked. _That was surprising easy. And I didn't have to ask for directions._

Even with the labeled map, Sasuke still found himself lost. He must have taken a wrong turn when he followed the construction detour earlier. But it didn't matter; Sasuke was standing on the corner of State and Maynard where the biggest Borders he had seen was located.

He entered the store and walked back into the cafe, intending to buy a drink before he settled down at one of the tables to catch up on his manga. Nursing a cup of coffee, Sasuke scanned the cafe area for an empty table when his gaze stopped on a familiar person by the window.

Sakura Haruno.

The girl was staring at him too, disbelief written all over her face. Making his way towards her, Sasuke said, "Hey."

"Hey, what's up? What are you doing here?" She asked him, closing her laptop.

"I felt like coming here."

"Quite a trip to go to the bookstore," Sakura answered wryly. "You could have gone to the Barnes and Noble in Canton."

"I could have," Sasuke said. "But I had something else to do here too."

She didn't ask why he was in Ann Arbor in the first place and for that, Sasuke was thankful. The conversation would have gotten even more awkward.

"You want to sit down?" She gestured to the empty chair across from her. "I don't mind if you join me."

He sat down.

"You know," Sakura continued. "I don't think we've actually introduced ourselves to each other."

"Yeah?" Sasuke smirked, knowing where she was going with this thought.

The girl grinned and stuck her hand out. "I'm Sakura Haruno. It's nice to meet you."

He shook her offered hand. "Sasuke Uchiha."

"Coolio. So what kind of books do you like to read?"

"What?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on. You don't think I'd believe you'd come here for a cup of coffee?"

"Maybe," Sasuke shrugged. "Why not? They do have pretty good coffee."

"True," she admitted. "But Starbucks is better."

"Borders is cheaper."

"By like, fifteen cents."

"Touche," Sasuke smirked. "But maybe I want to keep the extra fifteen cents."

"Or," Sakura replied. "You could give that fifteen to the fair trade farmer who worked his ass off to grow the coffee in the first place."

"Or," he pointed out. "It wouldn't matter where I bought my coffee as long as I bought it from one of the two because Starbucks owns Seattle's Best."

"Touche!" Sakura laughed. "I completely forgot about that."

Silence fell between them. Sakura went back to her laptop, furiously tapping at the black keys. Desperately, Sasuke searched for another topic to talk about. This girl, with her observant eyes and witty cynicism, was the most interesting person he had spoken to in months.

"You like _Junko_?" Sasuke picked up volume 41 of the popular manga series.

"Oh yeah," Sakura grinned. "It's one of my favorites, even if the main character is an idiot."

He chuckled. "Isn't that one of his good traits though? Junko is a positive thinker and believes he can overcome any challenge headed his way."

"It's admirable but stupid. He thinks too much with his heart and doesn't devote enough thought into the possible consequences of his reckless actions. Junko does what he wants without understanding what it means to everyone around him."

"True," Sasuke admitted. "But I think Kishimoto wrote him like that so there could be some real character development, you know?"

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong—the post-timeskip Junko is tons better than the boy before. It's just... I dunno. Frustrating."

"Frustrating? Why?"

Sakura's gaze shifted elsewhere. "Once upon a time, I knew someone like him. Only," she gave him a doll's smile filled with bitter irony. "He never grew up."

* * *

The sun was falling fast behind the trees when he left the warmth of Borders to go home.

As he drove, Sasuke mulled over the last four hours he spent with Sakura Haruno. There was a lingering sadness about her, a cynicism he found intriguing.

He was being ridiculous. _A cynicism he found intriguing_? This wasn't some damn poetry contest! This was about the quiet afternoon he spent with the most...

The most _what_? Sasuke couldn't find the words to describe her. Sakura Haruno was simply herself, an amazing girl.

The Honda idled in the driveway before Sasuke had enough sense to kill the engine and go inside. He wondered if he would see her again next week.

What about school? Would he see her there? U of M is a big campus but maybe, just maybe... he'll see her there.

_What will you do if you do see her there, Sasuke?_ His traitorous mind whispered. _Are you going to ask her out?_

He banished the lecherous thought. More than anything, Sasuke wanted to see that cynicism vanish and for Sakura Haruno to give him an honest smile.

* * *

The summer passed in a flurry of activity. Sakura spent most of it working on her competition piece for the cosplay contest at the next con and juggling summer classes. Speech was a complete bore but Japanese I was the easiest class in the world for her.

So what if she's cheating by fulfilling her foreign language credits with a language she could already speak? Sakura took all her exams and did all her homework. The fluency advantage shouldn't be an issue. Besides, if she ever wanted to graduate on time and get out of Michigan, Japanese was the fastest way for her to do so.

She loaded the last box into the Prius and wiped the dirt off her hands on her jeans. Running into her room, her eyes scanned over it one last time to make sure she had everything. Even though she could return home anytime she wanted and pick up whatever she forgot, Sakura would rather move everything while she had Sai to give her a hand.

This year, the twins were sharing an apartment located just outside campus. Her parents, tired of paying two separate and expensive housing bills, insisted on the move. Sakura didn't mind so much, preferring to eat home-cooked food rather than the constant diet of take out. There was more space and privacy in the apartment and having her own shower was a definite perk. Besides, her friend Karishma lived down the hall from them. At least now, Sakura didn't have to walk so far to visit her.

She gave her parents one last hug before starting the car and driving off behind Sai. The drive to Ann Arbor was short but she couldn't help but wonder what the upcoming year would bring.

* * *

Karin pouted at him as she hauled the last box into the trunk of the Honda.

"You're actually leaving."

Sasuke sighed and flicked her in the forehead. "You make it sound like I'm never coming back."

"Will you come back?" The redhead pressed. "Don't make too many new friends that you forget us."

"Don't be stupid." Sasuke rolled his eyes at her. "You're the type who likes to call and text incessantly. Who could forget someone that bothers them all the time?"

She punched him in the arm before enveloping him tightly with her arms. "I'm going to miss you," Karin said seriously. "We'll come and visit as much as we can."

Sasuke hugged her back and wrestled his way out of Juugo and Suigetsu's bear hug. He waved one last time before Itachi started the car and backed out the driveway.

"Otouto," Itachi said seriously. "Don't make the same mistakes I did."

Surprised, Sasuke wanted to say something but decided against it. Instead, he nodded.

Itachi smiled, satisfied that for once his little brother listened to him.

"Since you're going to Michigan, it wouldn't hurt to finally hook up with that Sakura Haruno girl, you know." He couldn't resist teasing him.

"Itachi," Sasuke glared at him. "I don't mind leaving your body in a ditch and stealing your car."

His brother laughed before turning on the sound system. The muted strings of Itachi's guitar filled the car, the soundtrack to this idle summer.

* * *

Author's Note:

A legitimate SasuSaku moment! I've been waiting to upload this chapter since I started this fic! It's short and the end sucks, but now we can start on the _real_ story. :D

Thank you all for your kind reviews! I know I haven't been active as of late, but... the real world sucks. Your words of encouragement mean a lot to me, especially in these stressful times.

Ja ne!

Callista Miralni


	6. just dance

nothing on you

Callista Miralni

disclaimer: nothing~

* * *

.:loop00.3_2:.

.:just dance:.

"Beautiful girls~ all over the world! I could be chasing but my time would be wasted-"

Sakura batted her brother's hand away from her face.

"-they've got nothing on youuuuuuuuuuuu~ baby!"

Karishma Jayswal laughed across from her as Sai broke into a little dance. At the sound of applause, he bowed.

"I didn't know you could dance," Karishma said. "That was incredible!"

"You never asked," Sai winked at her. "Did you know my sister could dance?"

The Indian girl's head whiplashed around to glare at her best friend. "Saki..."

Sakura looked up from her organic chemistry book. "You never asked," she replied shortly before going back to studying.

"ARGH! What is with you twins?"

* * *

It was the second week of school and Sasuke was sitting in the library minding his own business when the posters caught his eye.

They weren't anything outstanding; just another two pieces of highly decorative paper pinned to one of the many announcement boards on campus. The first was bolder than the second—with blocky letters screaming for any interested individual to join the Asian American Student Association. The second was more artistic than the first—a comic strip advertising the Anime Club.

The second flyer reminded Sasuke of one late spring afternoon reading _Junko_ while sipping coffee with a complete stranger.

Ms. Jacoby said that AASA was a good organization to get involved in. Their first meeting was this Wednesday and it couldn't hurt to attend. Besides, they're having pizza.

What college student turns down free food?

* * *

Sakura took her place at the front of the meeting room and called for attention.

"Hey everyone!" Her eyes swept over the crowded room. "Welcome to the Anime Club! My name is Sakura Haruno and I'm your president this year."

She pointed out each of her officers. At the back of the room, Tommy shared a pleased smile at the large turn out with her. To her left, behind the computer, her vice president Rob waved when she pointed him out. On her right, the treasurer, Justin, grunted and gave a half-hearted wave when introduced.

"We're going to be trying out several things this year," she continued with her speech. "We're trying a previewing style of meeting and will be showing things based on what you tell us you like. We're also going to try to host more social events so we can get to know each other better. Also, our meetings are shorter-"

Sakura knew that she had power. But she also knew that authority was a double-edged sword. She couldn't afford to slack off on school and she didn't know just how much energy this club would take. For now, Sakura would just have to go one day at a time.

* * *

"You were incredible up there," Karishma quietly reassured her on their way to her car.

"Was I?" Sakura bit her lip. "I didn't feel like it. I'm always tripping over my words and forgetting what I need to say."

"Things like that only show that you're just as human as the rest of us," Karishma said as she started the car. "They make you more approachable and reassure members that you're not on a pedestal. Not like last year's officers who thought they were."

"I was an officer last year."

Karishma laughed. "Except you. You're the only one members thought to approach."

Sakura didn't know what to say to that.

"Even though you're forgetful and say things faster than your brain thinks, people know that _you're_ in charge. You have authority and every inch of you conveys that message while making yourself open to new ideas. It's a difficult feat."

"A leader's charisma," Sakura softly replied.

"Well, I hope I'm the only Karishma in your life."

The Haruno girl groaned and lightly smacked her best friend on the arm.

Stupid homonyms.

* * *

Sasuke opened the door to the classroom and took a seat near the back. The room was nearly full. A table behind him had boxes of pizza on it and people were forming a line.

His stomach twisted a little bit—from hunger or nervousness, Sasuke wasn't sure—and he fell in line behind some guy carrying a camera. Picking out two slices of cheese pizza and a chocolate chip cookie, Sasuke expertly balanced his plate with one hand as he dug through the cooler for a bottle of water.

A guy carrying an iPad yelled for silence and waited until the room quieted before introducing himself as AASA's president and pointing out the other eight officers in the room. There were several items of business on the agenda: membership dues, sign ups to help staff a charity race, and the Harvest Moon festival in October.

Vice President Karishma Jayswal took the floor for the Harvest Moon festival.

"We've got several ideas for the AASA performance," the junior said as two other people set up the projector behind her. "And the officers can't reach a consensus. We've narrowed it down to these two dances but we want you to help us decide. Can someone get the lights—Amy?"

Sasuke capped his water bottle and watched the screen with interest. He didn't listen to much Korean pop music outside of the days when Karin sat in front of her laptop gushing over how hot so-and-so was during some song. His fingers tapped in rhythm to the catchy beat of SNSD's _Genie_, trying not to be impressed by the five guys smoothly dancing onstage with their partners.

Wait a minute—just how many _girls_ were in this band? Their numbers doubled, making Sasuke's head spin as he tried and failed to count the moving bodies.

The next clip was longer than the first. The cheesy movie at the beginning made Sasuke roll his eyes but he actually liked the tango arrangement of the Wonder Girls' _Nobody_. Suigetsu had a thing for this song when it first came out in English.

Several guys expressed their awe when two more guys joined the five dancing onstage for a b-boy dance routine before the music transitioned to the disco version Sasuke heard once before.

The lights came back on and several people groaned as they blinked away the black spots in their vision.

"Let's do the second one!" Someone near the front yelled.

Karishma shot the president a triumphant smile. "I thought you might say that," she said smugly. "Regardless of what you picked, I'm happy to introduce the Haruno twins as our dance instructors."

An excited murmur rose among the females. Sai Haruno was often seen among the top AASA members, chased by many heartsick girls. His twin, while everyone knew he had one, was hardly seen around campus. Rumor had it that Sakura Haruno was a ninja.

Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of the girl joining her brother at the front. She looked irritated, like all she wanted to do was escape as soon as possible.

Sai waved to the crowd. "How are you all doing?"

A happy yell erupted.

"For those who don't know us, I'm Sai Haruno and this is my twin sister Sakura. To twelve of you, we'll be your dance instructors. Umm... we've been doing this kind of stuff since we were twelve when we spent a summer in LA with our cousins. We expect the chosen dancers to work hard and be dedicated to this performance."

He waited for his sister to say something.

"Sakura?"

"Right," the other Haruno jumped. "Auditions will be during next week's meeting."

"That concludes our official meeting. You are welcome to stay and chitchat. We've still got tons of food so help yourself." Karishma beamed at them. "New members—please stay so we can collect your contact information at the back table. A sign up sheet for auditions will be on the back table as well."

Sasuke got out of his chair, threw away his trash and fell in line. The lines for new members and dance auditions mingled together and Sasuke wasn't sure which was which anymore.

"Hey, aren't you in my history class?"

Sasuke turned his head. "Maybe."

"I think you are!" The girl clapped her hands. "You sit right in front of me—oh hey Sakura."

The angry light left her eyes as Sakura gave the other girl an easy smile. "Hey yourself Nikki."

Discreetly, Sasuke turned away from Nikki as the lines advanced.

"Where have you been? Nikki asked. "I see your brother all the time but not you. In what hole are you hiding in, girl?"

"I told Kari, I have have other duties as a club officer that take up time. Not only that, but my homework and labs are ridiculous."

Nikki's eyes grew wide. "That sucks!" She groaned. "But I guess that's what happens when you're a super genius."

"Saki," Sai smoothly interrupted. "That noisy woman wants you over there."

"I heard that, Sai Haruno!" Karishma yelled across the room.

Sakura rolled her eyes and left. Sai turned to Nikki and asked, "Who's your friend?"

Sasuke was pulled over to the girl's side after writing his contact information on the sheet. "You mean him?" Nikki laughed, making Sasuke feel uncomfortable with the familiar way she treated him. "This is..."

Sai snorted. "You don't even know his name."

"I do too! It's... Sake, right?"

The other man started laughing. Growing warm, Sasuke replied, "Sasuke, actually."

"I told you that you didn't know his name," Sai teased. Facing Sasuke, Sai gave him a smile—one that reminded Sasuke of the one his twin sister gave him one late spring afternoon—and said, "I'm Sai. Nice to meet you."

Sasuke gave him a bewildered glance. Didn't the other guy recognize him? Sasuke was okay if Sai didn't remember; maybe it meant Sakura didn't remember his face either.

His stomach twisted at the thought.

"Nice meeting you too," Sasuke finally said.

"What year are you?"

"Third for chemistry. I just transferred here."

"Oh yeah?" Sai looked intrigued. "From where?"

"Canton Community."

"No way! I'm from there. Where'd you graduate high school?"

"Plymouth High. You?"

"Bishop's," Sai grinned. "We never got play each other. You play any sports?"

"Soccer. But I quit my senior year to focus on school."

"You should play with me and the guys sometime then. It's nothing serious but we have friendly matches with other unofficial teams on campus."

"Sai!" Sakura hollered across the room. "I'm leaving! Give me the keys!"

"You live on campus?" Sasuke asked.

"Close enough, we might as well be," Sai sighed as he prepared to throw his twin the car keys. "What about you?"

"North campus in Bates."

The Haruno's eyes widened. "Wow. That's quite a walk. You want a ride?"

"Yeah Sai!" Karishma popped out of nowhere. "Prove you're a decent human being and give me one too."

"Who the hell wants to give you a ride home?"

"Hey! I live down the hall from you. It's hardly an inconvenience."

"Listening to you yap is an inconvenience."

"Don't be an ass to my best friend, _baby brother_."

Their heads turned. Sasuke never realized how short Sakura was until she stood in between her twin and best friend. Earlier, she seemed as tall as the rest of the girls.

"I thought you left," Sai furrowed his brow.

"I was about to but then I got text from this _one,_" she jabbed her thumb towards Karishma. "-asking for a ride home."

"Perfect." Sai grinned. "Nee-chan..."

"You know I hate it when you try and sweet talk me, Sai. What is it this time?"

"Drop my buddy Sasuke home?"

What is it with the overly-friendly Asians at this school? — Sasuke wondered.

"Sasuke?" The woman frowned. "Since when do you know someone named Sasuke?"

Her green eyes landed on the Uchiha and he offered her a casual wave.

"Long time, no see."

"It's you..."

* * *

"Spill. Now." Karishma demanded as she followed her best friend into her apartment. "How do you know Sasuke?"

"We've met," the elder Haruno said shortly.

"Don't be cheap. How? And from the way he greeted you, it sounds like you two _know_ each other."

Karishma let out a small 'eep' at the glare Sakura directed her way. "We don't know each other," she said fiercely. "We've bumped into each other a few times in Canton, that's all."

Sai snorted over his Gatorade. His sister's glare was on him now.

"Sai Haruno, I dare you to say something."

"I'm not going to," he answered calmly. "I value my life too much."

"So there _is_ a history between the two of you!" Karishma shrieked.

"There's nothing!"

* * *

Ino Yamanaka laughed as the boy pouring her another shot of tequila tried another pick up line on her.

"Nice try," she shook her head, thanking him for the shot. "But you'll have to try something else."

Boys. They're so ridiculous sometimes.

She wandered the frat house, bored with this party already. Finding her roommate, Ino yelled she was going home.

While on the bus, her cell phone rang, providing a nice distraction. Sakura was calling. How nice. She hadn't heard from her cousin in a while.

"Yo chica. Tell me something new."

Her cousin shrieked something on the other end of the line that made her drop her phone in surprise.

"The _Anime Paper Boy_ goes to your _school?_"

* * *

Sakura pressed replay on the YouTube video and watched the screen intently, scribbling a few notes on her notebook.

"Hey Sai?" She called through her open bedroom door. "Can you check this for me?"

She pressed replay for the fourth time and waited until Sai was done checking her choreography notes.

"Let's try it," he suggested. "We'll record it on Photo Booth."

Pressing a few keys, he opened up the program and hit record. Another few keys and the music played through the laptop's speakers.

They ran through each choreography set, creating individual clips. After two hours, the two sat down and watched them.

"I think we got it," Sai gulped down a glass of water. "I'm gonna have to watch the 2PM part but I'll worry about that later. Why don't you start on dinner?"

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "I'm starved. And I've got homework."

"Since when do you _not_ have homework?"

* * *

Sasuke took the offered bowl of ice cream and ate some gingerly. He wasn't fond of sweets but it seemed rude not to eat it.

Nikki seated herself beside him. "You gonna try out?"

"No," he responded. "Not much of a dancer."

"Nobody here is," she smiled at him. "Why don't you try out anyways? They're still taking names. Maybe you can request to be a back up or something."

"You mean an understudy?"

"Yeah that."

* * *

The last person auditioned and left the room. Officers were cleaning up the classroom, arranging the tables and chairs in their usual places. A number of people lingered, talking to each other.

Sasuke spotted Sakura studying the list of all the would-be dancers in the back of the room and made his way over to her.

"You're really quiet."

She looked up from her list and laughed. "You're one to talk," Sakura said. "You've hardly said a word to anyone other than Nikki and my brother."

"I do not have the talent of conversing easily with people I have never met before."

"_Pride and Prejudice._" Sakura realized. "Mr. Darcy said that."

Sasuke smirked, mocking her with applause.

"It's one of my favorites," she suddenly confessed before returning to her list.

"I thought you were the type who read bloody crime novels." The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them.

When she didn't say anything, Sasuke winced. He wasn't supposed to know that about her. It was a piece of knowledge gained from the time he worked at the sushi restaurant.

"I love crime novels but I can appreciate the classics every once in a while." Sakura finally put down her list. "How did you know I liked crime novels?"

"Err... lucky guess."

She accepted the flimsy lie, excusing herself to talk to her brother.

* * *

"We have a problem," Sakura announced grimly. "We're short."

"Yes," Sai acknowledged. "We're Asian."

She smacked her brother in the arm with her notebook. "_Besides_ that," Sakura said frostily. "We need one more guy. Not enough signed up."

Sighing, Sai heaved another chair onto the growing stack. "I'd do it but who would teach? It's harder to teach complete noobs while dancing yourself."

"Find someone else before Saturday then," Sakura answered. "I have to go to an officers' meeting so I'll see you at home."

* * *

Sasuke registered the fact that someone slid into the chair opposite from him at the library but he waited until he was done copying the problem for his homework before acknowledging his intruder.

"Fancy seeing you here," Sai grinned at him. "What up, Sasuke?"

He shoved his homework to the side. "Not much," Sasuke leaned back in his chair. "What's new with you?"

"Hiding from my sister. She wants me to do _homework_." Sai wrinkled his nose. "It's Friday afternoon! What loser does homework on party night?"

Sasuke tapped the edge of his textbook with his pencil, smirking. The other man flushed.

"Err... besides you. I mean, no offense or anything. I'm not trying to say that _you're_ a loser, it's just-"

His smirk grew wider.

"You know what?" Sai finally stopped babbling. "I'm going to shut up now."

Sasuke laughed softly. "It's cool man. Any plans for the weekend?"

"Soccer game with the guys and the first dance practice. I still gotta find one more person to fill that empty spot though."

"Good luck with that."

Sasuke pulled his book towards him to work on his homework again and almost jumped out of his chair when Sai's hand landed heavily on his book.

"The hell?"

The other man looked at him seriously. "Can you do a back flip?"

"What?"

Sai pressed again. "Do you have abs?"

"You're kinda freaking me out."

"Can you dance-" He jumped out of his chair and made a motion like he was swimming. "_Again and again and again and again?_"

Sasuke jumped out of his chair and wrestled Sai back into his seat. "Do not _ever,_" He hissed. "Do that again."

Holding up his hands in surrender, Sai asked, "Can you fill that empty space I was talking about?"

"You don't even know if I can dance!"

"Are you Asian or not?" Sai demanded. "B-boying is in our _blood._ Channing Tatum has nothing on us, man. Grow some balls and show me your stuff!"

The library went eerily quiet. All heads turned to look at their table and Sasuke wanted the millions of books on the shelves to bury him alive.

Standing up, Sasuke calmly packed his bag.

"There's no way in _hell_ you're related to your sister."

Sai watched him walk towards the stairs.

"I'll see you at seven pm at the gym! I owe you one, man! We're gonna get it _on!_"

He laughed at the sight of the lone finger waving back at him.

* * *

Author's Note:

Probably one of the better chapters. I'm thinking a lot about this fic... mostly because I want to finish it before the year is up. XD Might as well write while I'm thinking about it.

If you are interested in seeing what videos AASA showed as their choices for the Harvest Moon festival, they are SNSD and SHINee's performance of _Genie (Tell Me Your Wish)_ and Wonder Girls and 2PM's collaboration on _Nobody._ I found them on YouTube and I'll post links in my LiveJournal later.

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

Ja ne~

Callista Miralni


	7. we bond

nothing on you

Callista Miralni

disclaimer: nothing~

* * *

.:loop00.3_3:.

.:we bond:.

Sakura breathed as the opening notes played.

_Sowoneul malhaebwa_

_Ni mamsokae itneun jageun ggomeul malhaebwa_

The first steps were easy enough but as the song progressed, each movement was a calculated one. Really, Sakura needed at least four other people to do this dance right.

She got to the chorus. This she could do by herself. One arm stretched out in front, followed by the other, then a weird foot movement that made her wince every time she saw someone else do it. Spinning, Sakura caught sight of a figure standing in front of her and she let of a shriek of surprise. Tripping over her feet, Sakura landed on the ground.

Sasuke offered her a hand and pulled her up from the floor. "I'm sorry for scaring you," he said.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here? You scared me half to death!"

"You can't let me fill in."

"What?"

"I can't dance," Sasuke enunciated each word. "Your brother thinks I can."

The confused look was replaced with a scowl. "That assuming jerk!" She raged. "I _knew_ he wouldn't find someone. Dammit, I should have listened to my intuition and found someone myself."

She turned off the music and collected her belongings. "Don't worry about it, Sasuke! I'll take care of this; you don't have to dance," Sakura yelled over her shoulder as she left the practice room.

He blinked away the whirlwind before it sunk in that a) he got off the hook and didn't have to make a complete fool of himself and b)

She still remembered his name.

* * *

"_Helloooooooololololooooooo!"_

Wincing, Sasuke held his phone away from his ear. "Karin."

"_Sasuke! My best friend in the whole wide world hasn't forgotten about me. Take that, Suigetsu! He called __me__ first!"_

"Actually, I called him first but he didn't pick up the phone."

"_Killing the mood here, Sasuke!"_

He almost regretted calling his best friends but there was no way in hell he was going to talk to _Itachi_ about the latest events.

"_So what's up?"_

Quickly, he filled in the two of them. Sasuke talked about his classes, his roommate, and about joining AASA. Suigetsu seemed a little disappointed by the lack of available, single women in Sasuke's number of acquaintances.

"_Have you seen her? You know, Sakura Haruno? Itachi-nii said she went to school there."_

Sasuke paused.

"Yeah I have. I just talked to her before I called you guys."

Gushing, Karin drilled him for all the details. What did they talk about? Is she the same at school as she was in the restaurant? How is her relationship status? Sasuke answered each one with growing irritation, glossing over the finer points. They had no relationship outside of mutual acquaintances.

"Her brother's taken a liking to me," Sasuke sighed. "Sai Haruno is..."

"_Is what? Incredibly hot if you ask me._"

"... carefree." Sasuke rolled his eyes at Karin's interjection. "He forced me to fill in the empty spot for some dance performance for this festival but I talked to his sister and got out of it."

"_That's it?"_ Karin sounded like she was on the verge of another of her long-winded and loud rants. _"You called to tell me that you finally found the girl of your dreams and all you ever say to her is that you can't dance? What the fuck is wrong with you? Grow a pair and get to know her better so you can ask her out!"_

"That's not what it is at all! You're twisting every thing around, Karin."

"_Don't you dare call me again until you have real progress to report, Sasuke Uchiha. Ugh! I can't believe you guys. You're so oblivious to everything, especially yourself!"_

There was a click.

"Karin?"

Sasuke looked at his cell phone and glared at the unassuming background on the display.

"That bitch hung up on me."

* * *

"SAI HARUNO!"

The man winced at the sound of his twin's furious voice.

"Hide me," he begged someone. "Saki can't find me or she'll skin me alive!"

"SAI!"

One of his friends, David Li, shook his head. "You're on your own, man. Your sister is scary when she's pissed off. What did you do this time?"

"I'm not sure... I found someone to fill in the empty spot like she told me to."

She stopped right in front of their group and gave them a pleasant smile. "Hello gentlemen," Sakura said before her eyes fixated on her brother. "Otouto."

He cringed. Things never go well when Sakura starts with _otouto_. There is a long and loud lecture —_in Japanese— _interlaced with copious amounts of swear words and graphic threats —_in Japanese— _followed by a dragging-by-the-ear that hurts more than it should because Sai has to bend down at an awkward angle to accommodate his raging twin.

"You're filling in that last spot."

The breath he had been holding released itself. Someone up there loved him a lot, to spare him the usual routine.

"That's it?" Sai asked. "I thought Sasuke said he was going to do it."

The smile turned malicious. "_Sasuke_ never said anything. You assumed. It will be tough, but I have full confidence, otouto, that you can teach and be a member of the entourage at the same time. Better men than you have failed."

He cringed again. No one up there loved him—they must be rolling around on the fluffy white clouds laughing their asses off at Sakura's pointed insult. Sai hadn't been spared The Lecture at all; he was going to experience it _with every inch of his body_, not just his spine.

* * *

Sakura glanced at the clock. Waving her arms in the air, she called for practice to end. Sai landed the handstand he was doing in front of her, almost kicking Sakura in the face.

Brushing off her brother, Sakura smiled slightly at the eleven volunteers.

"Okay guys, tomorrow's the big day. You've all been doing wonderfully and I want you to perform just like you did today for the Festival. Remember, I'll be watching from the crowd and can give you cues if needed, but I hope it won't come down to that."

Laughter filled the air.

"Don't forget to meet with Karishma after this in the bubble tea cafe down in the strip to talk about performance times, costumes, and whatnot. I'll see you all over there!"

Sai waited with her until everyone left the room before shrugging on his jacket and offering his sister the car keys as a peace offering. Declining, Sakura drank deeply from her water bottle.

"Never," she groaned. "_Ever_ let Karishma talk us into doing something like this again. It's too time consuming and I'm sick and tired of going to sleep exhausted out of my mind. I never want to see pink metallic fabric for as long as I live."

Rubbing her shoulders, Sai muttered, "You do a good job leading us and our costumes are gorgeous."

"I wouldn't have to be the only one leading if you had found a replacement for the 2PM dance."

At that moment, Sai chose to hit the car alarm button on the Prius. He fumbled with the remote, pressing the unlock button repeatedly to turn the alarm off.

"I'm sorry—did you say something? I hit the wrong button."

Sakura hit her brother in the arm.

"You're a terrible liar."

* * *

Sasuke arrived at the festival just after they finished setting up the food buffet. There was still time before the festival was to start. Various groups of people were running around with food, folding chairs, and stage equipment.

"Hey!" A passing officer spotted him as he walked by the stage. "You're in AASA, right? Come over here!"

That was how Sasuke found himself seated behind a laptop hooked up to the giant speakers. A timetable lay next to his elbow with penciled cues.

What was he doing here? He didn't know the first thing about running a sound board, even if it had been simplified to a music playlist on a laptop and three volume sliders (_faders_, Sakura muttered in a huff as she passed by on her way to her front row seat) on a board.

People started to arrive and fall in line at the food buffet. Someone was nice enough to bring him and a few of the other people managing the stage a plate of food each. Sasuke ate quickly so as to not miss his cues, but he couldn't help but notice that the girl sitting in front of him hadn't moved since she sat down.

Karishma opened the program with welcoming remarks and announced the first performance. The skit about the story of the first Harvest Moon was good but even Sasuke could barely hear them.

A girl sang Christina Aguliera's _Reflection_.

Two visitors did a b-boy routine that garnered much applause and attention from the audience.

Twenty people showcased male and female traditional clothing from eight different Asian countries.

Sasuke couldn't believe that someone would pay $7 to attend this kind of thing. In theory, the performances should have been entertaining and culturally educating, but the execution was severely lacking in enthusiasm.

_It must be the food. No college student passes up cheap food_.

Then, Karishma announced the closing performance. Sakura got out of her chair to stand at the very back of the lawn, barely visible from the stage. As Karishma exited, Sasuke glanced at his notes.

_Wait for Sakura's wave._

The five girls filed on stage, their metallic pink dresses shimmering in the lights. Sakura waited until the last one was in place before she raised her arm and waved her hand.

The first part proceeded smoothly. Sakura was about to start biting her nails but she stopped herself in time. When the music changed, the five male partners filled out in time from the makeshift wings. All ten danced in sync and each set went through their solos without a single mistake.

_They're even better than the original performance,_ Sakura couldn't help but think smugly.

A roar swept through the audience when the guys started taking off their blazers and vests, revealing the decorated white wife-beater underneath. Sai and David were already in place at the front of the stage on the grass. The girls ran into the nearest bathroom to change into a second outfit.

The 2PM dance was deemed too dangerous for the small stage and moved to the lawn in front of it. They had to adjust the routine to accommodate the change and this was what Sakura was the most nervous about. So many things could go wrong in that simple jump from stage to ground...

Sasuke couldn't help but feel stunned as he watched the acrobatic display. Sai wanted him to do _that?_ He could barely land a backflip!

He smirked when a shirtless Sai saluted the crowd and a girl in the third row cat-called him. The girls came back on stage as the guys left and performed an exact replica of the video Sasuke remembered watch weeks before.

_Holy shit. They're good._

Thunderous applause pulled Sakura from her anxious state. They made it through the entire thing...

"Thank you!" Karishma took the MC mic again. "Wasn't that fantastic? Of course it would be; after all, I'm the one who championed this performance in the first place!"

The crowd laughed at her cheek.

"That is our finale for the night, folks. But before you leave, I want to recognize a few people. Theresa Cao, come up here girl! Theresa has organized every thing for this event, from creating the schedule, ordering the food, reserving the stage from the school, I mean _every thing._ Give it up for Theresa!"

"Next, we have all our AASA members and officers who volunteered to pick up and serve food, set up the venue, run the music, and participate as performers to thank. Without them, we wouldn't have an event."

"Finally, I want to recognize two people, but _especially_ one of the two in particular. Sai, Sakura—get up here!"

Karishma smiled brightly at the crowd. "The Haruno twins were key to our final act—you enjoyed that, right? For the last two months, Sai and Sakura met with our twelve performers every week and taught them how to dance. I believe there was some gymnastics training involved?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Sai answered.

"Sakura further lent us a hand and handmade all twelve costumes-"

Her green eyes widened in embarrassment. They didn't need to know that.

"-girl, I'm telling you, you're in the wrong field of business! Anyways, without Sakura Haruno, there would be no final act for you to enjoy, so please give a warm round of applause for all her hard work!"

Sasuke couldn't believe what he heard. _She_ did all that? Where on earth could she have found time to do that, her classes, and her homework?

It must have been all those years spent cosplaying.

* * *

Settling back into her chair, Sakura took a sip of her water. She picked up her notes, opened a new pack of flash cards and started to write.

Beside her, Sai worked on his art homework.

"You know," She said while scribbling the five differences between bacterial and archaea cell membranes on a card. "You should consider getting that art minor."

"Tou-chan will kill me."

Sakura snorted. "No, he won't. He's got one child going into medicine; he doesn't need a second child majoring as an architect. You know, you're the only architecture major I know who has as much free time as you do."

Sai grinned before drawling out, "I'm Asian, therefore, a freakin' genius."

"Deflate your ego, otouto. You're smart and artistically talented, but I'm still a science major and applying to med school. Therefore, I win."

Rolling his eyes, Sai looked around the library and glanced at his watch. "Hey, it's almost snack time. Do you want to get boba?"

"Yeah sure. Let's leave our stuff with Karishma—she's up on the third floor studying."

* * *

Sasuke found himself practically living at the library. The cold weather was settling in, making the wait at the bus stop an annoyance to deal with. After his last class, Sasuke would take the winding sidewalks to the library and do his homework until it was time to catch the last bus of the day.

Then, he'd go to his dorm and finish his homework before going to to bed.

It was a boring routine, but it comforted him. At least his grades were still up. The lack of a social life didn't bother him the slightest.

Oh, who was he kidding?

* * *

The third floor of the library was quiet since it was so early in day. Sasuke was making his way to one of the desks along the wall when he saw Sai.

"What's up, man?" Sasuke greeted him. "I don't usually see you up here on the third floor."

Sai grinned. "Yeah, too quiet for me and everyone else up here gets mad at me for talking. Saki's here to see Karishma for a minute."

He finally noticed the two girls behind Sai. Karishma gave him a slight wave. "Oh hey, Sasuke! Are you looking for a place to study? You can sit next to me."

Well. That made finding a table effortless.

"Thanks so much, Kari. I really appreciate it." Sakura pulled on Sai's arm to get him to move. "C'mon, let's go."

Sasuke set his backpack down and pulled out the chair. The other man glanced at him before saying, "We're going to get boba. Want to come?"

He glanced at the girl some feet away, waiting for them impassively. She turned her head away, pretending to not care whether he came or not.

Recognizing the mask, Sasuke smirked. "Sure," he said, grin stretching when he saw her glance back at them, green eyes wide.

Sai led them through the hear of Central campus, talking alternately with Sasuke and Sakura. They crossed the street and entered the downtown shopping district.

"Welcome to Bubble Cafe!"

Sakura walked ahead of them, scanning the menu. Sai rolled his eyes and muttered to Sasuke, "I don't even know why bothers looking when she orders one of the same two things every time. Hell, you could order for my sister and be right."

It was the first time Sai acknowledged their previous meetings years ago.

"Passion fruit green tea with boba," Sasuke drawled. "Unless she's feeling sleepy, then it's black tea. If it's hot, then it's a passion slush."

Startled, Sai glanced at the two. Sakura placed her order at the counter while Sasuke still looked over the menu beside him. An understanding smirk crept onto his face and he slung an arm over the other man's shoulder.

Annoyed, Sasuke shrugged off his arm. "What?"

"Nothing. Take good care of my sister."

"You make it sound like I'm marrying her."

He was sure Sai was going to make some smartass remark about how he wouldn't mind Sasuke marrying his twin, but the other man gave him a cryptic smile instead.

"I will deny ever saying this," Sai began in a calm voice. "But I think Sakura needs someone like you right now. Be her best friend if anything."

_A warm afternoon sipping coffee and reading manga._

"Hn."

* * *

His ringing cell phone interrupted the story Sai was telling him about Friday's party. Glancing at the caller ID, Sasuke groaned when he saw the name.

"Sorry, I have to answer this or I'm going to get twenty more calls."

Sai laughed and waved for him to take his call. Karin twittered about how his brother offered to take Suigetsu, Juugo, and her down to Ann Arbor on Friday to visit him. Itachi even offered to take them all out to dinner.

Sasuke frowned. Some thing wasn't right. Itachi would never offer to do something like that.

"Sounds cool," he faked a pleased tone. "I can't wait to see you guys. Karin, I've got to go; I'm in the library and can't talk long."

He saw Sai frowning at him. "What?"

"Nothing," his friend replied. "Saki has a table up on the second floor we can crash."

* * *

Sakura smiled at her two cousins through Skype.

"Did my ears deceive me?" She teased them. "Or did both of you just say you were transferring here?"

"You heard right," Tenten grinned. "Community college sucks and Ino got her scholarship. We'll be transferring in the spring."

"In the middle of your sophomore year."

"Hey!" Ino said, indignant. "It's not like we're missing out on anything. All we've done is take gen eds. I don't know about Tenten, but I'm read to start major classes."

They were going to share a room at Bates together. Ino finally got her license and one of their aunts was helping her buy a car.

"Tennie," Sakura tentatively began. "What about Neji?"

Her cousin fell silent.

"I will not speak to him until he decides he wants me in his life. I will not let him walk away from me at his own whim—when he _selfishly_ decides I'm important as a friend or something more. I'm not a toy and I deserve respect."

Sai's face flooded the screen. "Moving speech, my dear cousin. I commend you for your mental strength."

Her computer erupted into a volley of curses and graphic threats.

"Hush, ladies, we're in the library," Sai grinned. "My friend and I are trying to study and you're disturbing us."

"Don't give me that bullshit," Ino scoffed. "You don't study and you have no friends."

"I do too! Look." Sai spun the laptop around to face Sasuke. Unsure of what to do in the face of two wide-eyed girls, he gave a small wave. Satisfied with his response, Sai said, "I have friends.

Tenten recovered first. "One friend. And you're still not studying."

"Can I have my computer back?" Sakura huffed. "I have a club event to organize and a cosplay group to promote."

"That's not important."

"Neither are your inane taunts towards our cousins."

"Saki, we'll call you later," Ino assured her before they signed off.

She didn't like the smiles on their faces.

* * *

Sakura wandered the library in search of a table to do her homework.

Honestly, they should reserve tables for the people who practically _live_ in this place.

She spotted Sasuke in the corner by himself. His headphones were in his ears and he was reading a literature book.

Sakura hesitated. Unlike her brother, she didn't feel close to the boy, certainly not close enough to crash his table. Even with the other AASA members, Sakura didn't feel entirely comfortable in her own skin around them.

But there really was no other place to sit...

Gathering her courage, Sakura approached him.

"Hi," She offered him what she hoped was a disarming smile. "Can I sit here with you?"

* * *

December set in and with it, a new routine replaced the old one. Sasuke still lived in the library most hours of the day but a couple things added themselves to his daily schedule.

Indoor soccer games with Sai and the rest of the guys on Fridays.

AASA meetings on Wednesdays.

The occasional off-campus dinners in the evenings.

Helping Karishma and Nikki with homework.

Sitting at a table with Sakura.

He had friends and gained them in a strange, subtle way. This blended group pulled him into the fold, accepting him without hesitation. Sasuke Uchiha was _one of them_ and nothing anyone else said would change their minds. They shared their lives with him.

Little by little, he began to reciprocate.

He told them about Suigetsu, Juugo, and Karin and their antics in high school. He mentioned Itachi and would sometimes cook for them using his mom's recipes. Sometimes, he talked about the various jobs he worked and how it was weird not working now. Whenever Sai was feeling particularly devious, he would converse with the other man in Japanese, laughing at everyone's demanding faces for an exact translation before hounding Sakura.

She usually brushed them all off and told them to learn a new language—_in Japanese_.

Tonight, he was at the Haruno twins' apartment for dinner. It was the first time Sasuke had ever been invited.

"Pre-finals celebration," Sai explained as he sank into the armchair. "We actually invited all our friends but the people you know won't be here for a while. Saki and Karishma's anime club friends are probably going to show up first and leave shortly before everyone else arrives."

The anime club? Sasuke raised an eyebrow. What kind of people were in the anime club?

Seeing his friend's incredulous expression, Sai grimaced. "Only the people closest to my sister are showing up, thank God. They're alright, but the rest of the people in the club are the biggest otakus I've ever met in my life. Compared to them, Sakura is normal."

"I thought you liked anime."

"Dirty secret. You do too."

"I don't consider it to be a dirty secret." Sasuke leaned back in his seat. "Like your sister, I don't tell anyone unless directly asked."

"I don't need something like that to shoot my credibility down," Sakura informed them coolly as she sat next to Sasuke on the couch. "It's already difficult enough trying to get people to take me seriously without telling them I'm the president of the anime club."

"Nee-san, you post _cosplay_ pictures on your facebook. Of course it's hard for people to take you seriously, especially 'cause you're so short."

"Only in compared to you and Sasuke. I'm average height for a girl. And my facebook is friends-only for a reason," She sniffed.

"Do you still cosplay?" Sasuke tilted his head towards her. "I went home during Halloween."

Sakura smirked, thinking of the past four years in which she swept away any competition during Halloween costume contests.

"Yeah, I do. Just not really during the school year. It's hard trying to work on a project and be in school at the same time. I mostly work on projects during the summer and winter breaks."

She got up to open the door, greeting the crowd on her doorstep with a charming smile. Sasuke watched her usher them into the dining room where a buffet had been set up, explaining what each dish was and how to prepare it on a plate.

Sai sighed but a small smile crept onto his face. He motioned for Sasuke to join him at the end of the line, surveying the food they spent the better part of the weekend making. Shrimp and vegetable tempura, udon, tonkatsu ramen, nigiri sushi, chicken parmesan, chicken curry, and pepper steak covered the table. Sakura made enough food to feed an army.

Sasuke grabbed a portion of the chicken parmesan, in the mood for cultural variety.

"How does it taste?" Sakura asked him, sinking into a sitting position on the floor in front of the coffee table.

"Better than the excuse of an Italian restaurant campus offers."

She laughed. "That's not an answer! No seriously, Sasuke, how does it taste?"

He swallowed his food. "It tastes good."

Her smile widened. "I'll make it again the next time you come over then."

To Sasuke, it sounded like a fact instead of an empty promise.

* * *

Author's note:

Oh thank God. It's finally finished.

Longest chapter in the fic to date. I'm sorry it took so long but... the semester really sucked. I supposedly have a freer summer this year, but... I'm taking the MCAT in August and haven't studied for it at all yet.

However, I am spending the next month busting out my pieces for SSM 2012. I'm determined to uphold my promises this year!

I'm so glad this chapter is done. Now I can start on my favorite part—the romance! I'm a terrible romance writer so I look forward to this opportunity to explore and improve my writing in that genre.

Finally, thank you so much for all your reviews, favorites and watches! I know I haven't been replying at all to them because of my busy semester, but I appreciate all of you taking the time to read my work, as amateur as it is. Special thanks to **GoldenDoe06** who loves this story so much, she comments on every related entry in my LJ, and reminds me to never give up what I enjoy. Thanks so much! :D

Ja ne!  
Callista Miralni


	8. these scars

nothing on you

Callista Miralni

disclaimer: still, nothing.

**dedicated to:** roxanne, because you continuously give me a gift I can never find an equivalent to repay you with.

**special thanks to:** jasmine, bianca, abby, and winnie—the lovely mods of the sasusakufanfics tumblr.

**and always:** jayde, for continuing to put things in perspective.

* * *

.:interlude:.

.:these scars:.

When the laundry room door slammed shut and rattled the adjoining living room wall, Sasuke turned off the TV and escaped to his room.

First day of winter break and Itachi and his father start it off by yelling at each other. Amidst the thinly veiled threats and caustic retorts, his cell phone received a text from Karin. He tapped out a reply, sent a text to his mother, and left the house out his bedroom window. The snow made it more difficult than usual to close it, but after slipping a couple times, he managed to shut it completely.

Suigetsu lived the next street over and Mrs. Hozuki ushered him inside with an understanding smile. Smiling back, Sasuke apologized for invading their home once again.

"Don't be silly, Sasuke-kun," the woman said. "You're family. Zabuza-kun has some friends over as well."

Even though he smiled and said it would be good to see Zabuza again, that was the farthest thing from the truth. Suigetsu's half brother was around Itachi's age and creeped Sasuke out with his twisted, maniacal smirk.

"Yo," Suigetsu didn't even look up from his game. "That bad at home?"

Sasuke grimaced and took a seat on the bed. "You have no idea."

"Well, when Karin said we couldn't come over anymore, I knew it had to be bad."

"Enough about them," Sasuke changed the subject. "What did I miss?"

* * *

Sai regarded his mother with confusion, the melon popsicle still in his mouth.

"Sai-kun, you're drooling," Satsuki pointed out.

He pulled the dessert out of his mouth and slurped up the melting juice.

"That's disgusting," his sister said dryly.

He ignored her. "Repeat that again, Kaa-san."

Sakura rolled her eyes and continued cutting fabric on the table. Their mother smiled again.

"We're throwing a Christmas party!"

* * *

"You're overreacting," Ino dismissed. "A Christmas party is hardly the end of the world."

"It is when Naruto-moody-as-shit-Uzumaki is invited."

"You're one to talk."

"C'mon, Ino!"

"Love you, Saki!" her cousin sang over the phone. "Don't worry so much about it. Tennie and I will be driving up there with all our shit before the party. We'll endure the craziness known as the mini Yakuza with you."

"Ah shit!" Sakura slapped her forehead. "Neji will be there too!"

It was complicated between Neji and Tenten to say the least. The summer after Sakura turned 18, they briefly dated with plans to break up before Tenten returned to California.

Surprisingly, Neji was oddly resistant to their separation once the time came.

So they did a long distance thing for a couple months. But it was difficult, especially on Neji's part. After a particularly explosive fight, they were done.

At least, every one else thought they were.

Up until a few months ago, they had a weird friendship. It was as if they never broke up in the first place but as Tenten was quick to point out, Neji had no business in saying who she could and couldn't see. Unfortunately, sitting back was something Neji could not do—staying out of Tenten's love life was a Sisyphean task.

"Well, think about it this way," Ino said brightly. "If you happen to murder your brother for being an ass per usual, Tennie will take Neji out, and I'll beat Naruto within an inch of his life. Then, we can spend Christmas together in a jail cell."

"We'll spend the rest of our _lives_ in a jail cell if we do any of that."

* * *

Sasuke read Sai's text inviting him to a Christmas party a couple times before asking his mom if he could get a ride from her. Excited by the invitation, Mikoto enthusiastically enlisted Itachi—who had a show starting at the same time—to drop him off at the Harunos' home.

"Haruno, huh?" Itachi smirked. "You're finally close to Sakura Haruno?"

Sasuke glared at him. "Her brother invited me."

Itachi made a strangled noise at the back of his throat that sounded like a laugh. "I thought you weren't gay. Well, I mean, it's okay with me if you are but if Tou-san finds out, he'll have a heart attack at the thought of two disgraceful sons. Listen, Sasuke, when I move out, you can live with me-"

"Itachi, I'm not gay!" Sasuke yelled. "Her brother is a good friend of mine. Get your head out of the gutter."

The car turned left into the upper class neighborhood. Itachi followed Sasuke's instructions and pulled up to a large brick house at the corner. The brothers' eyes widened in shock at the size.

"Your friends are pretty well off," Itachi mentioned, still in awe of the Haruno home.

"Tell me about it," Sasuke grumbled as he got out the car. "Come get me after your show—the party lasts until two."

Itachi nodded before driving away. Sasuke faced the house took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

Satsuki Haruno was not expecting the handsome young man on her doorstep, let alone the boy from the sushi restaurant named Sasuke. She disguised her shock with a beaming smile and ushered the man inside.

"Hello, dear! What's your name? I'm Mrs. Haruno, but you can call me Satsuki-baa-san; all the kids do. Did Sai or Sakura invite you?"

Taken aback by the greeting, Sasuke knew where Sai got his overfriendliness from. He introduced himself and mentioned that Sai invited him.

"We're so happy to have you over, Sasuke-san. Let me call Sai-kun for you."

Somewhere from upstairs, Sakura yelled that her brother left to pick up food from the caterer's. A glance at his cell phone made Sasuke frown—he was an entire hour early.

_Damn you, Itachi!_

Satsuki ushered him upstairs to where Sakura was, assuming that he knew both her children fairly well. He stood awkwardly in her bedroom doorway, watching the woman put away her belongings.

"Sorry about the mess," Sakura said as she stashed her jewelry back in a box. "I wasn't expecting anyone for another half hour."

"Yeah... sorry I'm early." The man scratched the back of his head. "My brother has to go somewhere at the same time and I didn't even look at the time."

"It's not a big deal," Sakura dismissed. "Naruto usually shows up half an hour early so I'm used it it. Come in and take a seat—it must be uncomfortable standing in the doorway."

Sasuke hesitated before stepping into her room. The walls were painted a light cream with ruby red accents. A twin bed with a solid ruby comforter and cream pillows was shoved into a corner. A bookcase stood next to the door. The closet doors were shut but the glass side panels revealed its contents between the hanging jewelry hooks and scribbled notes in dry erase marker.

"A lot of our stuff is at the apartment," she admitted. "Every thing in the house has been rearranged because family is in town."

"Am I intruding on family time?"

Sakura gave him a funny look. "If anything, _they're_ intruding on friend time. Our family friends rotate having parties and we got Christmas this year. I'm actually surprised you agreed to come."

A sense of wariness filled him. "Why's that?"

"Three years ago, David came during Christmas and left wearing Sai's clothes because the guys decided it was funny to have a snowball fight with paintballs inside them. He hasn't come back during the holidays since."

Sasuke groaned. "Sai definitely didn't tell me that. Neither did David."

She giggled and sat on her bed, finally done cleaning her room. "They're not that bad. Most times, they're a lot of fun."

"Yeah? Why do you say that?"

The bitter smile was back. "Drama," she said. "When it comes to Asians, what else could it be? We're suckers for a good drama."

The doorbell rang and she stiffened. The medley of voices was unfamiliar to Sasuke but Sakura knew who arrived in an instant.

"Guests are here," she said in a strangled voice. "You should come down and meet them."

"You don't look particularly thrilled about that."

Sakura glanced at the photo hanging next to the door. "It's... complicated. C'mon, before I get cold feet and end up staying in here all night."

People started arriving at a regular pace. The downstairs foyer was filled with bodies all removing their shoes and shedding their winter coats. Sasuke never felt so out of place before.

The two barely made it out of Sakura's room before someone tackled the woman beside him in a crushing hug.

"Naruto!" Sakura laughed. "I can't breathe!"

Sasuke recognized him in an instant. He was the boy who sometimes visited the sushi shop with his parents and always remarked about the lack of ramen on the menu. He was the boy Sakura had a secret smile for and the one who told lewd jokes at the dinner table.

He was Sakura's Takeuchi Junko who never grew up.

The other man noticed Sasuke standing behind them and gave a small smile. Loosening his hold on the petite woman, he extended his hand. "Hey! I'm Naruto, a friend of the family. What's your name?"

Sasuke recognized the accusing look in Naruto's eyes. He smirked before shaking his hand. "Sasuke Uchiha. Nice to meet you."

Sakura stepped in between them. "Naruto, Sasuke is a close friend at school. Sai invited him tonight."

"I see. Hey, Saki, where is your brother anyways? Neji can't find the hard drive for the 360 in the basement."

She sighed. "It's in the backpack if it's not there on the console. Sai should be back by now since Kaa-san is calling us down for dinner."

Naruto perked up and hugged her again as thanks before running downstairs. Sasuke watched the melancholic look return to her eyes.

"Dinner?" He prompted.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I'm being such a terrible host. Let's get something to eat."

* * *

Sai arranged the pieces of mochi on the platter before setting it down on the island counter. The dark haired man trailing behind his sister made him grin.

"Sasuke! I'm glad you could make it! Sorry about sticking you with Sakura—she can be so absentminded."

"Sai!"

"Your sister's a good tour guide. She showed me the house and all your baby pictures on the wall." Sasuke came to her defense. "I have to say, Haruno, pink really is your color."

"Sakura!"

"You two really are twins," Sasuke remarked dryly. "You even yell each other's names the same way."

"SASUKE!"

* * *

Sasuke followed the twins through the buffet set up in the kitchen and dining room. People were sitting everywhere and the three ended up sitting in the formal dining room.

He was entertained throughout dinner with their stories of Christmas parties past. A part of Sasuke wished he had been able to grow up with them, to share these tales of lighthearted celebration. But, he wouldn't dream of trading Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo. They may have not had elaborate parties like the Harunos did, but they shared every bit of their childhood together from the moment the Uchihas moved to Canton.

Getting up to refill his empty cup, Sasuke was once again approached by Mrs. Haruno.

"Did you get enough to eat, Sasuke-san?"

"More than enough," he answered honestly. "The food was delicious."

He was struck by the similarities between her and her daughter, especially when she gave him a pleased smile.

"I'm glad you liked it dear. I was afraid, with Sakura baking the chicken, that she would add some odd Mediterranean ingredient to the dish. Usually, I just use a teriyaki glaze but she added something else... People have been asking me for the recipe all night and I have no idea what to tell them!"

Thinking about it, Sasuke realized why the chicken tasted familiar. They used a similar recipe at the sushi house.

"I think she added grated ginger to the stuffing," he offered. "At least, that what it tastes like to me."

Mr. Haruno walked by them with a plate of chicken in hand. Satsuki-baa-san stopped her husband and took a bite from his plate.

"You know, Sasuke-san, I think you're right. How did you know?"

The young man sweatdropped.

"Lucky guess?"

* * *

He entered the room at the same time Naruto did from the other side.

"Hey Saki!" Naruto called before he sat down in Sasuke's empty chair.

The other man raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as he pulled out the chair from Sai's other side.

"What, Naruto?" She asked with a touch of exasperation.

"Can you babysit Konohamaru for me?"

Sakura blanched at the thought of spending an afternoon with Naruto's thirteen-year-old cousin. Konohamaru Sarutobi should have been able to stay at home by himself, but after six visits from the fire department, Kaori-baa-san deemed her only child in need of constant supervision until he outgrew his experimental phase.

"Why can't you do it?"

Naruto had the grace to look guilty. "I have a date."

If he hadn't been watching her, Sasuke would have missed the anger and hurt in her eyes before a pleased facade took over.

"Sure. Just let me know when."

Naruto promised to make it up to her, either by taking her out or funding her next cosplay project. Sakura looked uncomfortable with the promises and brushed them off with a repeated, "This is what friends do. You're my best friend, after all."

He thanked her profusely, gave her a strangling hug, and ran off. Sakura stared at her plate, lost in thought before standing up to get a drink, agitated.

Sai slowly swallowed his food, having kept silent during the entire exchange. "Will you check on her?" He asked Sasuke.

He made a face. "Why me?"

"She's got this thing where any time someone close asks her if she's alright, she'll immediately lie and say she's fine. Maybe you can catch her off-guard."

Laughing, Sasuke shook his head. "Catch your sister off-guard? I doubt it."

* * *

Sasuke found her standing over a bowl of punch. Her cup was still empty and the ladle sat right above the surface of the juice.

"Hey," he tugged her hands away from the ladle. "Let's get out of here."

Her eyes, despite the faux green, were glassy with memory. "Where would we go?" She breathed, slowly coming out of her daze.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Sai step in front of his mother, blocking her view of the pair. The snow falling outside distracted his attention from the matter at hand.

"Out."

* * *

Judging by the way Sai was tiptoeing through the party, they weren't supposed to leave.

"The Z is parked on the street." Sai told him in a low voice, pressing the keys into his hand. "You have until midnight."

"Isn't that a little Cinderella of you?"

"Shut up." Sai grinned. "We open presents at midnight. The gift exchange starts at eleven thirty but it's easy to dismiss your absence then."

Sakura emerged from the mudroom, dressed to travel. She held Sasuke's coat in her hands. Taking it from her, the dark haired man tried to ignore how intimate the setting was. He focused his attention on the resigned look in Sakura's eyes.

"Don't forget a scarf," he murmured at the sight of her bare neck over the collar of the black peacoat.

Obediently, she went back into the mudroom to fetch a scarf. Sasuke pointedly ignored the shit-eating grin stretched across Sai's face.

They left through the garage. "Take care of my baby!" Sai called from the doorway.

He laughed off the dirty looks they shot him.

* * *

Sasuke counted his blessings that Itachi drove a stick shift otherwise he would have to suck up his pride and ask Sakura to drive.

Marveling at how quickly the coupe heated up, Sasuke shifted into drive. It wasn't until they were on the main street did Sakura turn to him and ask where they were going.

"You'll see." Sasuke answered cryptically as he turned left.

The car turned onto Michigan Avenue and finally, Sakura realized where they were headed.

"Ice skating?"

Shifting the car into park, Sasuke gave her an amused smirk.

"Why not?"

* * *

Sakura gingerly stepped onto the ice, clutching the raised edge of the rink wall to keep balanced. Behind her, Sasuke smoothly skated on the ice.

After nearly slipping, Sakura felt steady enough to let go of the wall. Taking a few slow steps forward, she eased herself into the familiar rhythm of skating. She glared at Sasuke leisurely skating backwards in front of her.

"What?"

"I hate you," she said without any real malice.

He pulled her hands from her sides. "Relax," he said as he dragged her forward. "I won't let you fall."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes but allowed Sasuke to drag her along. The rink was decorated for the holidays, Christmas lights strung across the dark ceiling, imitating the stars.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Sasuke stopped. An angry couple swerved around them, yelling at the pair to get out of the way. They ignored the two, silently assessing the other's true intentions.

"I mean, it's not like we're close. You're more of my brother's friend anyways. I feel bad for making you miss the party."

Sasuke could hear all the things Sakura didn't say but wanted to.

"I'm not going to pretend like I know you," Sasuke began. "I don't know your problems and I'm not going to ask. What I do know is that you need someone right now and I'm willing to be that friend if you'll let me."

Stunned, Sakura took a step back. For a moment, Sasuke thought she was going to leave but the woman stood there thinking.

"Thank you."

She took his offered hand and let him pull her forward, matching his steps with unconscious ease.

* * *

At eight o'clock, they exhausted the ice rink and headed back to Sakura's car.

"Are we going back now?"

Sasuke spared her a glance before looking at the clock. Intuitively feeling her reluctance to return to her home, Sasuke shook his head and made a U-turn on Michigan Avenue.

There were a number of places on Canton Center Road Sakura thought Sasuke would take her, but the little shop tucked in the corner shopping district was the last place she dreamed of. Holly's Nails was also decorated for the holiday season, the neon open sign blinking in the night. The man parked her car in front of the shop and opened the door for her.

Sakura was no stranger to the establishment, having accompanied her mother here on many occasions, but she rarely had her nails done. Sasuke didn't look as out of place as Sai did whenever her brother tagged along on those girlish outings and greeted the lady at the counter with a familiar smile.

"Chào," he said with a slight bow.

Sakura could hardly keep up with the fluid exchange of words. The lady kept glancing at her, exclaiming a number of things. She didn't know whether to feel insulted or disturbed by the stares she was receiving from the rest of the staff.

"Come back here with me." The lady finally addressed her.

Uncertain of what exactly was going on, Sakura looked at Sasuke. He gave her an encouraging smile before taking a seat in the waiting area and pulling out his cell phone.

The manicurist sat her down in one of the massage chairs, told her to take off her shoes and socks and roll up her leggings. The foot bath filled up with warm water and the lady added in a number of salts and liquids to the water before handing her the remote to turn on the massage chair and sliding her feet in the water.

This was the closest to bliss Sakura had come to during the stressful holiday season. There were so many things to do in the Haruno home during this time: clean the house, prepare for family to stay, prepare for guests, cook food, buy presents, wrap presents, decorate for the season... the list went on and on. In the salon, there was only Sakura and her thoughts.

"What color do you want?"

The woman opened her eyes in surprise. "Um... do you have OPI's Kyoto Pearl?"

The lady was taken aback by the specific shade her customer requested, but she stood up and went through the racks, returning with the bottle. Inwardly, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Ino loved that particular color on her for some reason and it was the first nail polish Sakura could think of at the moment.

The next hour passed in a quiet daze. The manicurist chatted with her co-workers, occasionally yelling queries towards Sasuke. He responded in his tacit fashion before going back to his cell phone. After they were done with her pedicure, Sakura was sent back to wash her hands before beginning her manicure.

Halfway through one hand, Sasuke sat down in the empty chair on her left.

"I didn't know you spoke Vietnamese," Sakura commented in Japanese.

The man shrugged. "You pick up things," he replied in the same language. "Karin's mom dated a Vietnamese guy for the longest time when we were kids and we learned it from him."

"Who's we?"

"Me, Suigetsu, Juugo, and Karin. I think it's what inspired her to get a job here."

"Karin works here? Really? What does she look like?"

The manicurist barked something to Sasuke and judging by the tone of his reply, Sakura guessed it was pretty funny.

"What did she say?"

Sasuke grinned. "She told us to stop talking shit about her in Japanese."

"But we're not talking shit about her at all."

"She doesn't know that."

* * *

Sakura looked prettiest when she dolled herself up.

At least, that's what Sasuke decided upon seeing her post-spa treatment.

The woman was already wearing a light coat of make-up, evening out her skin tone and highlighting her green eyes with a brush of black mascara. The coat of almost translucent pearl on her nails should not have brought out her delicate features but somehow, it did.

Maybe it wasn't her nails. Maybe it was the delight shining through the carefully crafted mask of perfection and invincibility that made Sakura Haruno beautiful.

He paid for the spa treatment—all $34 of it despite Sakura's protests—and offered her his arm. She laughed before tucking her hand in the crook of his arm.

"Where to now?"

A facebook status flashed through his mind.

* * *

It was good thing Suigetsu's holiday celebration only went as far as the Christmas Day feast his mother prepared and the gift exchange between his family and friends, otherwise he wouldn't be basking in the holiday bonuses that came with working the Christmas Eve shift at Daydream Cafe.

His friends, like they did every year together unless one of them was working, played games on the couches by the door.

"Man, I can't believe Sasuke ditched us this year," Karin complained as she slapped a pair of twos on the coffee table.

Juugo reached for a card in her hand. "Put in perspective, Kairn," he advised. "We should be happy he's being social."

"But we haven't seen him in months!"

A set of headlights—the bright xenon kind installed in pricey cars—lit up the back wall of the cafe. Karin squinted through the window to see who the customers were and dropped her cards in surprise.

"Karin, I can see everything."

"Sasuke's here..."

At the counter, Suigetsu yelled in triumph. "The bastard came through after all!"

"... with a girl." Karin finished weakly. "He's here with Sakura Haruno."

She had never seen Juugo turn around so fast.

* * *

Sakura didn't know what to expect when Sasuke pulled into the Target parking lot. He parked in front of one of the retail shops lining the main street and she hurried to open her door before Sasuke could be a knight in shining armor again.

Honestly, she's had enough of playing the damsel in distress for one day.

"I've never been here before."

Sasuke opened the door for her and asked, "Really? I thought you would have been everywhere by now."

"I haven't been to a lot of places actually," she admitted. "I've never been to the Joe Luis Arena."

The man shrugged. "Neither have I."

"Sasuke!" Someone from behind the counter called. "What are you doing here, man? I thought you were supposed to be at some college friend's house."

"Suigetsu." Sasuke greeted. "I was there but shit happened and now I'm here."

Suigetsu eyed her with a bit of incredulity before pasting what Ino would have called a "salesman" smile on his face. "Try our Slow Poke! It's really good frozen but it's just as good hot!"

A light set of footsteps from behind her almost scared Sakura. "How are you in retail, Sui? That was the worst sales pitch I've ever heard."

"Shut up, Karin. No one asked for your opinion."

The redhead—Karin—rolled her eyes before turning to Sakura. "Hi! I'm Karin and I unfortunately know these socially inept morons. That's Suigetsu behind the counter and Juugo's on the couch.""

Sakura liked her immediately. "I'm Sakura. I go to school with Sasuke. He's told me so much about you guys."

"Yeah, he's told us about-"

A crash interrupted Suigetsu's remark and he squawked, "The candy display! Oh shit!"

Karin sighed again. "Sui—stop being an idiot. Juugo, don't be a wallflower and come over here."

She didn't see the tall man until his shadow loomed over her. Reigning in her impulse to scream, Sakura glanced upward and came face to face with the calmest human being she'd ever met. Shaking his hand, Sakura gave him an easy smile, introducing herself again with just her name.

At the counter, Sasuke helped Suigetsu stack the last few candy bars on the shelf before placing an order for two Slow Pokes without whipped cream.

"Sometimes, I forget you're lactose intolerant, man." Suigetsu started up the coffee machine.

"Lactose sensitive, you mean. I handle cheese and ice cream just fine."

Karin and Juugo led Sakura to the couch and started up another card game, most likely Koi-Koi since Juugo put the poker deck away and dealt out the hanafuda cards.

"Sasuke," Suigetsu began in a low voice. "Why did you bring her here? Is there something going on between you two?"

The sound of the coffee machine made it difficult for even Sasuke to hear him.

"There's nothing," he said. "She needed an escape and I gave her one."

Frowning, Suigetsu laced the cups with caramel sauce before pouring the mocha in.

"I don't know her story and I don't know what's going on between you two," he started. "But I don't want to see you getting hurt. You're not foolish like Karin and you're not flighty like me. You're always the one gluing us back together every time we fall."

"Your point?"

Suigetsu set down the coffee pot. "She's good for you," he answered simply. " Maybe you should give it a shot."

The sounds of victory coming from the corner reached their ears and the two glanced over to see Sakura hi-fiving Karin for playing a high-point hand.

"You don't even know her." Sasuke scowled.

His best friend drizzled more caramel on top before placing the lids on and sliding them towards Sasuke.

"I don't need to. You brought her here—to us."

Suigetsu started closing up, walking to the front and turning off the open sign. Taking a seat next to Sasuke on the bar stools, he faced him.

"You've known her for almost four years." Suigetsu reasoned. "Four years of watching you daydream about an impossible girl."

"I have not been daydreaming," Sasuke snapped. "She was just-"

"Just what, Sasuke? If you haven't been daydreaming about her, then what were you doing? Itachi-nii told us about what happened last Spring Break—about how you kept her phone number, how you ran into her at Olive Garden, and how you've secretly been keeping a list about her the last few years."

"Itachi is an asshole who should have been a fiction writer."

Sliding off the stool, Suigetsu moved to wash all the dishes and clean up behind the counter. "Don't be so defensive, man. I'm just telling you what I've been told and what I've seen. All I'm saying is maybe that impossible girl is possibly yours after all."

Another round of laughter erupted from the couches.

"Don't take her for granted. Things aren't like they were before; she isn't some familiar face who gives you good tips anymore."

Sasuke shook his head and got up to take the woman in discussion her drink. "Sakura was never that in the first place," he said quietly. "She's always been something more."

* * *

Sakura savored the sweet coffee. It was the perfect temperature—hot enough to warm up her frozen fingers but cool enough to not burn her throat. Karin and Juugo waved good bye to them from the curb just as Suigetsu locked the door.

"They're nice people." She smiled. "You have good friends."

He snorted. "If you say so."

The clock read 10:30 pm.

"Turn right here." Sakura pointed to the street before her turn off.

"Don't you live on the other side of the street?"

She avoided looking at him. "We have an hour and a half. Might as well make use of it."

* * *

Sai gulped as Tenten cornered him in Sakura's room. The lock clicked ominiously behind Ino.

Maybe he could escape through the bathroom...

"Where is she?"

He averted his gaze from Tenten's accusing eyes.

"Who?"

"Sakura. Sa. Ku. Ra. Your twin sister. Our cousin. Sakura Five-Catholic-Middle-Names Haruno. Where is she?"

"She's here. Duh. Where else would she be?"

Sai shrank into the corner as their gazes turned wicked.

* * *

Bundled up against the winter chill, Sasuke and Sakura parked her car at the clubhouse and started walking.

"We're so backwards."

He looked at her in surprise.

"Backwards?"

"Think about it," Sakura said. "Tonight, we've professed to trust and rely on each other to be a pillar of support but I don't even know your favorite color."

"It's blue."

He easily dodged the punch to his arm. "I thought you wanted to know."

"I was trying to make a point."

* * *

Carrying a tray filled with glasses of eggnog, Tenten rounded the corner and nearly collided into someone else.

A set of heavy hands steadied her, his touch lingering a few seconds longer than necessary before Hyuuga Neji thought it prudent to remove his hands before Tenten lunged for a knife and removed them for him.

"Merry Christmas, Tenten."

She stiffened. "Eggnog, Neji?"

Sometimes, she hated her lips for moving when all she wanted to do was keep silent.

* * *

"Then what? You want to play Twenty Questions?" Sasuke mocked her.

"We're not in high school, stupid."

"You're the one who wanted to talk, Sakura. So talk. Or is your mouth incapable of running per usual because you're in my presence?"

"..."

The snowball collided with his head and water dripped down the side of his face by his ear and yet, Sasuke couldn't find it in himself to care.

"I liked you better when you didn't speak," Sakura huffed.

* * *

Ino wasn't stupid.

The tension in Naruto's shoulders was so obvious, it was frustrating. After all, what right did he have to concern himself with Sakura's affairs?

Not that anybody knew where she went. The Haruno house was big enough to hide in but Ino grew up playing hide and seek in her cousins' home during the breaks. She knew every nook and cranny better than the insufferable Naruto Uzumaki and could say with reasonable confidence that Sakura was _not_ in the house.

Naruto cussed again as Neji blew up his tank in Black Ops. "What the hell, man?" He shouted.

Neji met his furious gaze coolly. "What did you expect, dumbass? We're on opposite teams."

Scowling, Ino turned her attention back to Hinata. Everyone knew Naruto was acting up because Sakura wasn't around to tell him to shut his trap. If her cousin didn't reappear soon, Ino would be arrested for homicide.

Judging by the look on Tenten's face, both cousins would be in jail that night.

* * *

Gathering up snow in his hand, Sasuke molded it into a ball and tossed it at Sakura. She shrieked and dove for cover behind a small pine tree. The snowball hit the tree with an 'oomph,' sending the snow on its branches to the ground and on Sakura.

"Truce, truce!" She laughed. "I'm not dressed to play in the snow!"

"Don't start things you're unwilling to finish," Sasuke said as he brushed the snow off her hair.

"Who, me?" Sakura said cattily. "I _never_ do that. I always finish what I start and I _always_ come out on top."

"Is that a challenge?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Are you challenging me to a snowball fight?"

"Well, what else could I be saying?"

He scooped up another handful of snow. "Are you sure you want to know why I was Plymouth High's ace forward?"

_SPLAT!_

Sakura clutched her arms around her middle as she helplessly giggled. "So much for a star soccer player!" She taunted. "Don't forget I grew up playing soccer in the streets with Sai!"

Launching the snowball in his hand, Sasuke threw another one soon after as he advanced towards her. Caught up in dodging the continuous stream of snowballs, Sakura didn't realize how close Sasuke was until he grabbed her around the middle and tackled her to the ground, twisting his body around so that he landed in the snow instead.

They stared at each other, almost nose to nose. Internally, Sasuke berated himself for putting them into this situation. This is what he gets for being nice and taking Sakura's lack of appropriate winter play clothing into consideration. Had it been Karin, he would have thrown her to the ground without hesitation.

He opened his mouth to say something but the Korean pop song blaring from her coat pocket muted his thoughts. Was it already that time?

Sakura blinked in surprise before getting off Sasuke. Offering a hand to pull him from the ground, she said nothing about the intimate moment they shared a few seconds before.

"Come here," Sakura finally said, cracking a smile. "You have snow all over you."

* * *

Sai would never know how she did it, but at 11:45 as their mother anxiously called for Sakura to take family pictures, she appeared at the top of the staircase, DSLR in hand, without betraying any sign of her absence for the majority of the night.

"Hey," Sai hissed to her as she set up the tripod. "Where's Sasuke?"

She shrugged, lining her eye with the viewfinder. "Your room, I think."

They cycled through the families in the usual order: first both Hyuuga families followed by the Uzumakis, both sets of Sarutobis, the Inuzukas, and Sakura's absent best friend's, Shizune Senju, parents. Sakura asked for her cousins' before handing off her camera to Hinata and posing for a photo with her parents and brother.

"College kids picture!" Naruto yelled, grabbing Hinata by the arm and pulling her flush against him.

Her father gently pushed Sakura towards the group, taking her camera from her hand. She slipped in at the edge, comfortably squashed in between Ino and Tenten.

"Where have you been all night?" Tenten hissed at her so no one would overhear. "Ino and I have been looking for you all over."

Sakura continued to smile. "I'll tell you later," she whispered back.

Finally, the clock struck midnight. Sakura gathered the gift bags and boxes her twin collected for her at the bottom of the staircase before skipping up to her room with Tenten, Hinata, and Ino at her heels.

The door to Sai's room opened and Sai stepped out with Sasuke. Behind her, the other girls gasped in surprise.

"I left it downstairs," Sai told him, sidestepping his twin. "It'll be faster if you just come with me 'cause the box is pretty big."

Once Ino collected herself, she shoved everyone into Sakura's room.

"The _Anime Paper Boy_ is _here_ in your _house!"_

* * *

Sasuke eyed the large box Sai handed to him warily.

"What's this?"

The Haruno rolled his eyes. "A gift, stupid. What else?"

Immediately, Sasuke felt guilty. Sai got him a gift? If only he knew beforehand, Sasuke would have brought something for him too.

"Thank you," he said, projecting as much sincerity as he could into his voice before setting the box on the table and peeling away the wrapping paper. Lifting the lid, Sasuke was surprised to find a new pair of cleats and two folded t-shirts inside.

"In the spring, we play intramural matches as a team representing AASA," Sai explained. "I figured you need a t-shirt if you're going to play with us."

Sasuke held up the navy blue shirt and took a cursory look at it. The front was rather plain, with a pocket-sized AASA logo silkscreened in a maize gold color. The back had the number 07 and 'UCHIHA' silkscreened in the same color.

"This is way too much," Sasuke said, setting the shirt down. "You honestly didn't have to buy me new cleats, for starters."

Sai grinned and slung and arm around him. "Honestly, AASA paid for the shirts. Sakura and I split the cost of the cleats so they're technically from her too."

At the mention of the elder Haruno twin, Sasuke looked away. Sai's obnoxiously persistent smile slipped.

"Sasuke, did something happen between you two?"

The Uchiha looked up. "What makes you think something did?" He replied cooly.

* * *

Tenten was firm believer in the fact that nothing good happens after two am.

The "college kids" sat around in the basement, TV and Xbox off, nursing steaming mugs of hot chocolate. Every eye was trained on the three sitting on the couch—their two hosts and the mysterious pretty boy sandwiched in between them.

"So..." Kiba Inzukua ventured to start the conversation. "What is your relationship with our dear Saki-chan?"

The twins nearly spit out their drinks and Sasuke cleared his throat. If it weren't for the subtle glare Naruto sent across her aimed at Sasuke Uchiha, Tenten would have laughed.

"We're friends." Sasuke quietly clarified.

"But you're THE _Anime Paper Boy_. How can you just be friends?"

"Kiba," Sakura said through gritted teeth. "If you are as much as a whore as you claim you are, I will gladly take away your one source of pleasure."

Kiba winked at Ino, who gave him an evil stare. "Fucking your beautiful cousin?"

She gave him a saccharine smile. "Your _dick_, imbecile. I'd like to see you get off without it."

"You know, Saki-chan, you _are_ related to Ino Yamanaka. Maybe you can dress up for me like that sexy Pikachu girl and we can-"

"Kiba Inuzuka," Tenten cut him off before Sai reached across the ottoman to strangle his childhood friend. "Shut the hell up."

She glanced at the clock. 2:15 AM.

Obviously, nothing good happens after two am.

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki was _pissed._

He tried not show it. Really. Naruto did every thing over the top.

Always did.

That's where Sakura came in when they were growing up. She was like the OFF switch to his hyperactivity. Sakura kept him on track, bandaged up his wounds, and soothed his broken pride.

And then, they went to high school. He met a girl, one his parents didn't approve of. She was spontaneous, beautiful, and funny as hell.

Carolina Raskovich was also mixed up with the wrong crowds.

She did drugs and had an endless supply of cash at any given time. She hung around the back alleyways of downtown Detroit and often spread her legs wide open for anyone willing to party hard with her.

Every wise person at Bishop's knew that to entangle yourself in Carolina's world meant social suicide.

People would watch you closely for any sign of self-destruction. They could not trust your words, could not determine if behind the coating of honey, there was a slow-acting poison.

People could not trust you.

When he was paired with her for a project, Naruto honestly thought he could make her _better_. And for a little while, he did. She smoked less, drank less, partied less. She focused more on her studies and quit tearing down people _just because she could_.

He dated her because he pitied her.

Fours years later, they were over but his childhood friends could not fully trust themselves to him. That year he spent with Carolina, he also spent pushing them away.

_You changed,_ Hinata once told him with tears running down her cheeks._ And it's not a good kind of change either, Naruto. You used to be my hero._

Sakura used to tell him and Sai that all the time—that they were her heros. Now, watching her curl up on the couch next to a complete _stranger_, it seemed like she found a new hero in the man giving her understanding smiles every time she looked at him.

Naruto couldn't be happier when the generic Nokia ringtone shattered his angry thoughts. The twins—his closest friends since they were in diapers—got up and escorted Sasuke Uchiha upstairs.

Good riddance.

* * *

"Thank you for inviting me." Sasuke paused at the door. "It has been a memorable night."

Sai laughed. "Are you so nervous that you're slipping into _keigo_? It was a pleasure having you over. Give us a call if you ever want to hang out over break."

Sasuke nodded, awkwardly bumping fists with Sai. He turned to Sakura, unsure of what to say to her.

Earlier, when they snuck into the house, they agreed not to mention their whereabouts for the better part of the night to anybody. Sasuke spent the last two and a half hours taking social cues from her, admiring her ability to play it cool despite her cousins' relentless questioning.

She stepped forward and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Thank you," she murmured in his ear, "for every thing."

Sasuke returned the embrace. "You are..." He started to say.

He could feel her head against his shoulder, tilting in curiosity. Suddenly, he couldn't find the words to express what he'd been meaning to tell her this entire evening.

"What?"

He took a step back, his earlier conversation with Suigetsu at the forefront of his mind.

_Sakura was never just another customer in the first place. She's always been something more._

"... incredible."

* * *

Author's Note:

Merry Christmas to my dear readers!

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this ending, but I've been saving that line from the summary for a moment like this, soo... go with it?

Thank you all for the wonderful year. I'm so grateful for all your support—for recommending this fic to your friends and readers, for continuing to stay with me as I struggle to write and maintain a semblance of a life.

_bubble tea_ and _nothing on you_ were both featured and favorably reviewed at the sasusakufanfics tumblr sometime last year but I didn't discover the feature until this spring. ERMAHGAD. That has never happened to me before!

Which brings me to this: if you love this story, share it! If you think it's amazing, review it! Writers depend on readers more than you think. Help them out by giving constructive criticism and/or praise and by recommending their work to anyone in search of something to read.

I'm going to get off this soap box and go study for the GRE now...

Ja ne!

Callista Miralni


	9. growth

nothing on you  
Callista Miralni

disclaimer: always

Oh wow! I'm overwhelmed by your reviews! Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a comment—it means a lot to me!

I'm excited to begin this section of the story so I hope you are too. :D

**If anyone wants to design cover art for **_**nothing on you**_**, let me know! Shoot me a message either in a review or PM and we'll work something out.**

* * *

.:loop00.4_1:.

.:growth:.

Sakura breathed in the familiar and comforting scent of the library.

Nothing could ever go wrong here. This was her sanctuary away from the tension of her club officers waging war against each other, away from the pressure her parents put on her, away from the expectations her friends held her to. Here, Sakura was allowed to concentrate and focus on her studies.

It was odd, the relief studying brought to her. Sakura never enjoyed studying but the sense of preparation she got from actually doing her assignments and reading over the material helped alleviate the anxiety she felt walking into class every day.

Across from her, Ino spread her books and papers out, focused entirely on the paper she was in the middle of writing for one of her classes. The two cousins had been sitting at this table for almost three hours without a break.

Ino stretched and yawned. "Hey Saki, do you want to get coffee?"

She couldn't have been more thankful for the break. Standing up, Sakura buttoned up her peacoat and slipped on her favorite pair of gloves. Ino did the same, flexing her fingers in an attempt to accustom herself to the odd sensation of fabric surrounding her fingers.

Nodding to her cousin, the two set out from the library towards the coffee shop in the Student Union. On their way, Sakura saw Sasuke and Shikamaru Nara, a boy in AASA she tutored in Chemistry II last semester, heading towards them. She smiled at them, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to greet them properly and introduce Shikamaru to Ino.

"Hey guys. Had a good break?"

Shikamaru surprised her with a tight hug. "I owe you, Saki. I passed Chem because of you and my mom left me alone the entire break because I passed all my classes."

Sakura laughed. Shikamaru never changed. "Shika—you're brilliant but so incredibly lazy. If you actually went to class and paid attention, you wouldn't need my help at all."

She moved to give Sasuke a hug so he wouldn't feel left out but the other man picked her up by the waist and spun Sakura around in a circle. She held onto his shoulders tightly, laughing hysterically at the sudden and highly uncharacteristic move.

"Who are you and what have you done with the real Sasuke Uchiha?" Sakura laughed when she was back on her feet.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Ignore him. He's been in a sickeningly happy mood all day. I dunno why... it's the first day of the semester."

Although he never said it, Sasuke was too happy to get out of the house. It was still tense between Itachi and their father, despite Itachi's moderate success.

"Sasuke appreciates true genius when he sees it. He gives me deference. You could learn from him, Shikamaru."

"Uh-huh. Whatever."

Eyes twinkling with mirth, Sakura squashed her laughter long enough to invite the two of them to dinner later that night for a welcome party for Ino and Tenten. They promised to be there before parting ways.

When she was sure the two males were out of hearing distance, Ino seized her cousin's arm with a mad grin.

"Saki, what was that? You and the Paper Boy... oh my gosh, you and the Paper Boy! That was like a dream come true! Oh, Saki, you're growing up so fast, I can't keep up with you!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "We're just _friends_, Ino, and not very close for that matter. You're reading too much into it."

Ino's blue eyes shone. "Am I? People, especially _Asian_ people, don't go around hugging other people like that. Sakura, he obviously has a particular attachment to you."

Her own protests to the contrary even sounded weak to her ears.

* * *

It wasn't until they sat down at a table with Sai and David did Shikamaru ask Sasuke why he was in such a good mood.

"Wait," David interrupted the conversation before Sasuke could respond. "You hugged Sakura Haruno and lived to tell the tale?"

"She's not a scary monster," Shikamaru sighed. "We both hugged her and we're obviously still breathing."

David glanced at Sai in surprise. "The last—and only—time I hugged Sakura, she looked uncomfortable and told me to get the fuck off of her. I've known her for years."

"Don't be jealous," Sai said candidly. "It's not their fault their personalities are so much more agreeable to my sister's. You remind her too much of-"

He abruptly broke off his sentence when he saw Tenten come up the staircase. His cousin waved once she spotted him.

"Of?" David prompted him to finish.

"No one," Sai answered as he made room for Tenten next to him. "Forget I said anything. So Sasuke, what's this I hear about you spinning around campus with my twin in your arms?"

Tenten dropped her notebook in surprise. "No. Way," she said, leaning forward in excitement. "Tell me everything."

Sasuke looked around the table—from Shikamaru's hooded gaze, to David's surprised face, to Sai's nonchalant expression, to Tenten's expectant smile—and sighed. "It's nothing. I was just excited to be back at school and see you all again. Momentary lapse in judgement."

Sai wisely chose not to comment but Tenten frowned and asked, "Didn't you come over during the break? I remember seeing you at the house."

"He came by to give me something and didn't stay long," Sai lied. "That doesn't count, Tenten."

"Oh." She looked disappointed. "And I thought Naruto acting like a jealous prat all night was because Sakura practically _ignored_ him in favor of hanging out with him."

Both Sai and Sasuke froze.

"Oh well." Tenten shrugged. "We stopped hoping for something on that front a _long_ time ago."

"Really?" Sai laughed weakly. "What were you hoping for?"

She waved a hand to dismiss his inquiry. "Not saying anything." Tenten zipped her lips shut. "You wouldn't like it."

With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Sasuke felt like he already knew what Tenten was referring to.

* * *

In her ear, Lily Southward turned their weekly catch-up call to their favorite hobby.

"Saki-chan, I know you're ridiculously busy, but won't you think about it? I can't go onstage without you."

Sakura leaned back in her chair and scoffed. "Don't be stupid, Lily. You and Sempai have been competing without me all throughout college. You don't need me at all."

"But Saki!" Lily exclaimed. "This is _huge_. The first place winner gets an all-expense paid trip to Japan."

"You know I could get that _without_ entering a cosplay contest."

"But I can't! C'mon, we always said we'd go to Japan together."

She glanced at her calendar. "When is it?"

Lily squealed. "You'll do it?"

Sakura knew she was going to regret this. "Just tell me when the con is, Lily."

Her best friend breathed out the date in a rush of excitement. Checking her calendar once more, Sakura saw she was technically free that weekend in the summer. She consented to going and yanked her phone away from her ear to spare her eardrums from Lily's excited screams.

"Lils-"

"Yes, Sakura-the-Awesome?"

She smiled involuntarily.

"You're driving first."

A pause.

"_Dammit!"_

* * *

Tenten was Skyping with Hinata when Ino came home from her part-time job as a research assistant.

"Really?" The Hyuuga girl asked. "You're friends with the Anime Paper Boy?"

"Kind of?" Tenten shrugged. "Though Sai said something weird the other day. Say, Hina-chan, you know how we couldn't find Sakura for like five hours on Christmas?"

Hinata frowned. "What about it?"

"Well, I made the passing comment about how we thought Sakura had disappeared with Sasuke that night and that's why Naruto was being a dick and Sai just _froze_. Then he said something about how Sasuke was only there for a short amount of time but I swear to you, Hina-chan, I saw him during dinner."

Hinata rubbed the back of her neck in a way vaguely reminiscent of her childhood friend. "Now that you mention it, I thought I saw him during dinner too. Sai has to be lying then."

"Why would Sai lie about that?"

Hinata's eyes—a gorgeous natural gray that ran in her family—took on a devious sparkle. "Maybe he lied because what you said was true—Sakura and Sasuke _were_ together when she went missing and they don't want anyone to know about it. Sachiko-oba-san would have a fit if she found out."

The more Tenten thought about it, the more it made sense. She never saw Sasuke during the time Sakura went missing and Sai spent most of the night with the rest of the guys playing video games. If Sasuke was anywhere that night, it was with Sakura.

"Speaking of Christmas, did you see how jealous Naruto was that night?" Hinata laughed. "I swear, all Sasuke had to do was _smile_ at Sakura and Naruto would have a fit."

Ino laughed with them. "They say your first love never really dies," the Yamanaka said mischievously. "Maybe it's time to see if Sakura and Naruto were meant to be after all."

Even though Hinata laughed and schemed with the two cousins, she couldn't help the dull ache in her heart. She could relate all too well to Ino's statement.

Unfortunately, her first love, the boy she's loved since she was three, happened to be the same boy she conspired with her friends to set up with the person she looked up to the most.

Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

"Here."

Sakura looked up from her notes and saw the steaming cup Sasuke held out to her.

"Is that tea?"

He sank into the seat beside her. "It sure as hell isn't coffee."

Delighted, Sakura grabbed the cup and greedily took a sip. Pomegranate Oolong flooded her tongue; Sasuke must have come from the Student Union coffee shop.

At least, that explained why the tea was already the perfect temperature.

"You're my hero," Sakura told him. "I was about to fall asleep."

Sasuke tried not to feel overly pleased by the praise. Instead, he pulled out his organic chemistry textbook from his bag and tried to concentrate on reviewing his notes.

Sakura watched him with interest as she drank her tea. She knew Sasuke was a chemistry major and the chem majors shared many classes with the biochem students but she never actually _studied_ with him before.

Why didn't she think of that earlier?

"Sasuke, we're in Orgo II together, right?"

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes," Sakura rolled her eyes. "Why didn't we ever study together last semester?"

The man looked up from his book, dark eyes mirroring her wide-eyed expression. "I... don't know..."

He knew Sakura got an A in Orgo I last semester and he barely scraped a B in the class. Why didn't he think of studying with her earlier?

She giggled. "It's only two weeks into the semester; it's not too late to start now." She gave him an understanding smile. "I'll definitely need your help because these aromatic reactions are totally over my head."

"You're exaggerating," Sasuke sighed. "Look, there's only three types of basic reactions. Every thing else are derivatives..."

* * *

Sai wiped the sweat away from his forehead and took a long drink of water. On the ground next to him, Sasuke tied his shoelaces before accepting the water bottle David tossed at him.

"Sasuke," Sai muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "Pull yourself together, man. You're so distracted."

Redding at the tips of his ears, Sasuke looked at the ground. There was no denying he was distracted and loosing focus during their soccer game. Behind him, his cell phone vibrated loudly on the metal bench. Swiftly, Sasuke picked up his cell phone, read the text message, and threw it back on the bench.

Noticing his distress, Sai called for someone to substitute for the two of them. He sat his friend on the bench.

"Sasuke, what the hell has you so distracted?"

He clenched his jaw and turned away. Sai let out a soft sigh.

"Look, I'm trying to respect your privacy but at the same time, you look like you need someone to talk to."

Sasuke relaxed his jaw and opened up his cell phone. After a moment, he tossed it at Sai.

"My brother and father have been texting me about each other," Sasuke summarized as Sai read through both message threads. "It's really getting on my nerves. They can't snipe at each other without bringing my mom and me into it."

He tossed Sasuke his phone when he was done reading it. "That sucks."

"No kidding," Sasuke agreed. "It's just irritating. I'll get over it."

They watched as David scored another goal.

"If it's any consolation, my dad does that with Sakura too," Sai said. "When he's done yelling at her, he goes and yells at me next. Sakura always gets pissed whenever he tells me not to be like her."

Sasuke winced. "That's rough buddy."

"Yeah..." Sai's attention was on the game before he realized, "Wait... did you just quote _Avatar_?"

The Uchiha hid his embarrassment by taking a long drink of water.

* * *

When Sasuke sat down next to her at their usual table on the second floor, he was surprised to see the normally focused Sakura working on something unrelated to school.

"What's this?" He picked up a piece of paper lying next to her elbow.

Sakura snatched it out of his hands. "Nothing," she replied, cheeks pink. "Don't worry about it."

Leaning over for a glimpse at her laptop screen, Sasuke chuckled. "Finally lost your focus, Sakura?"

Her cheeks darkened. "It's Lily," she finally explained. "She wants me to compete in this competition with her so we can win a trip to Japan. Now the idea's in my head and the only way to make it leave me alone so I can study is to do the research for it."

Sasuke's heart lurched at the mention of his homeland. The last time he was there, he was twelve. It was a somber occasion for the Uchiha family—the dual funerals of both his maternal grandparents was emotionally taxing.

"Japan, huh?" He said instead. "Have you been there before?"

Sakura nodded. "My grandparents on both sides still live there. We go back every three years or so to see them. What about you? Have you been there?"

Sasuke smirked. "I was _born_ there," he answered, smug. "Though the last time I visited, I was twelve."

That little tidbit about his life made Sakura push away her cosplay research. "Really?" Her eyes sparkled. "When did you move here?"

"I was almost seven. My parents wanted a new life so we came here."

Something about that simple statement said volumes to Sakura.

"Do you ever miss it?"

He gave her a wry smile.

"Sometimes. But then I realize, I wouldn't have all of you."

She grinned at him. "Maybe you should come with Lily and me. It'll be fun, I promise."

"Have I met Lily before?"

Seizing her laptop, Sakura logged into facebook and pulled up a photo of the two of them from their summer birthday party last year. "This is Lily. She's my best friend."

Sasuke recognized her from their frequent visits to the sushi shop. She was the girl Aaron talked about—the one with big hazel eyes and an interesting hair cut. Now, Lily's hair grew out past her shoulders, curling at the ends.

"She's a fashion design major at SCAD," Sakura babbled with pride. "I think she wants to make movie costumes. After all, her girlfriend is a film major and wants to be a director."

Lily was a pretty girl, no question about it, but she paled standing next to Sakura. Perhaps that was Sasuke's bias speaking, but no one could compare to a genuinely happy Sakura.

"I've seen her," Sasuke admitted. "She's usually with you at the sushi restaurant during the summer."

It was an unspoken rule between him and the Haruno twins to never speak of the three years before their formal introduction. Sasuke seemed to have difficulties keeping to it, but Sakura didn't seem to mind the momentary lapses in judgement.

"It's our favorite place and we go every time she's home from school." Sakura closed her laptop. "You should go with us sometime!"

"Wouldn't I be intruding on girl time?"

Sakura scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. Lily's always wanted to meet you."

Reflecting on it, Sasuke wondered if she realized how strangely intimate meeting the best friend was. Though, he supposed, it was only fair that he meet her best friend since she already met his.

"If you say so."

* * *

Ino linked arms with Sai as they walked into the library.

"Hey Sai-kun," Ino began in Japanese. "What do you think is going on between Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun?"

Her cousin snorted. "Something's going on between them? News to me."

"Oh come on!" Ino protested. "You're far from stupid, even though I question that sometimes. Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan are practically glued together."

"Ino-chan, half their schedules are the same. Of _course_ they're always together."

Ino wanted to strangle him.

"He's making a move on your sister! Don't you have _any_ kind of protective brotherly feelings?!"

"Of course I do," Sai responded airily. "I also happen to trust Sasuke. He's not going to do anything I won't approve of. Besides, why are you complaining, Ino-chan? I thought you wanted them to get together."

She sputtered. "That's—well—gah! I hate you!"

* * *

When Sai came home around three in the morning after staying all night at the architecture building to finish a project, he was surprised to find Sasuke and Sakura fast asleep on the couch. Notes were scattered all around them—he surmised they had an exam coming up this week.

He had three options. One, he could wake both of them up, send Sakura to bed and drive Sasuke home. Two, he could carry Sakura to bed and grab a blanket for Sasuke. Three, he could leave them both there and enjoy their guaranteed embarrassment over their sleeping arrangement in the morning.

As much as he wanted to go with option three, Ino's words from a few weeks ago echoed uncomfortably in his head.

"Let it be known that I acted upon these so-called _protective brotherly feelings_," he grumbled as he easily lifted his twin sister from the couch.

He tucked her into bed and grabbed the extra blanket folded at the foot. Sasuke was awake and rubbing the sleep from his eyes when he returned to the living room.

"Sorry—I'll leave." He yawned.

Sai tossed him the blanket. "Stay the night," he said. "We're all too tired to be going anywhere."

After batting away Sasuke's weak protests, his friend caved and thanked him before curling up on the couch under Sakura's blanket and falling back asleep. A bold print on a sheet of paper caught his eye—the class syllabus. Someone—probably Sakura—highlighted the exam dates in green. The next test was Friday next week.

Sai shook his head. These overachievers, pulling late nights to study a week before.

Who the hell does that?

* * *

Hinata laughed at something Naruto said before picking up another hat.

"What do you think of this one?" She modeled it for him. "Think Saki will like it?"

Naruto shook his head. "It looks great on you, Hinata, but it'll clash with Sakura's pink highlights."

He took it off her head and placed it back on the rack. "Why is this so hard?!" He groaned. "Buying Sai's present wasn't hard... why is Sakura so difficult to shop for?!"

Hinata threw a scarf around her neck. "That's why I'm here, silly."

It was the beginning of March and the twins' birthday was at the end of the month. Naruto was determined to buy something amazing for their twenty-first birthday. He couldn't buy them alcohol because he was still underage but that didn't mean he couldn't get them an awesome gift.

_That'll show you, Sasuke Uchiha, who's the better friend!_

He didn't _hate_ Sasuke per say... Naruto just didn't like him. The dark haired man fit too easily in their lives like he was _supposed_ to be there.

He and Hinata went to Eastern Michigan University along with Kiba, Neji, and Shizune. It was close enough to home that driving wasn't a big deal so all of them lived at home to save money.

Naruto never understood why Sakura and Sai didn't do the same. U of M was only half an hour away... why bother paying for housing? He supposed it had to do with the _college dorm experience_ Sachiko-oba-san insisted they go through.

They had gone through the entire department store with no luck. Hinata suggested they try some of the boutiques in the mall.

"If all else fails, you can always buy her a book," Hinata said.

Naruto gave her a mock glare. "Really? A book?"

"Don't give me that!" Hinata threw her hands in the air. "Sakura loves books. She'd appreciate anything you'd give her, Naruto, so why are you stressing?"

"Because it has to be _perfect_."

The woman sighed before directing his attention to Forever 21.

* * *

Sasuke was lying on his bed, reading, when his phone buzzed violently. It rattled off his desk and hit the floor. Grumbling about being bothered on his designated relaxation day, Sasuke picked up the phone.

"Sasuke!" A familiar voice chirped in his ear. "What are you doing today?"

"Nothing..." He dragged out the word. "Why?"

"Because!" Sakura said, excited. "Lily's home and wants to go out for lunch! Get dressed; I'll be there in five minutes."

"Sakura!"

She already hung up.

* * *

She must have already been on her way to his dorm because there was no way Sakura could make it from her apartment to his door in exactly five minutes.

His roommate opened the door when he was in the process of putting on his shirt. Sakura didn't even wait for his arm to be in his sleeve; she grabbed his hand the moment it peeked out from the cuff and pulled it through.

"Come on!" Sakura bounced on her heels. "We still have to drive home!"

Digging his heels into the floor, he stopped her. "I need my wallet and keys, Sakura."

She let him go and tapped her foot as he grabbed his belongings. Waving goodbye to his roommate, the pair made their way to Sakura's Prius parked at the curb.

"SCAD has a two week spring break that's earlier than ours," Sakura explained. "Lily arrived yesterday."

Sasuke chose another song on her iPod. Did this girl have every genre under the sun on it?

"Are you sure I'm not intruding?"

The woman laughed. "Positive."

* * *

Lily Southward sipped her Sierra Mist while watching the television mounted on the opposite wall. She was early and wasn't too concerned that her best friend wasn't there yet.

So much had changed in three months. The regular hostess was still there and greeted her with a familiar smile but the tall Korean waiter no longer worked there. The Anime Paper Boy was also nowhere to be seen.

She sighed in disappointment. The Paper Boy was one of the reasons Lily always looked forward to eating at the sushi house. It was so much fun to rile up Sakura, the infamous Ice Princess, about him.

The front door opened and a petite Japanese girl with raven and cherry blossom pink locks stepped through with a dark haired man at her heels. Lily waved them over to her table.

Even though Sakura mentioned in their weekly call that the APB befriended Sai and her at U of M, nothing could quite prepare Lily for their next meeting. This time, she would be introduced to him as a friend, not as her favorite waiter.

"Lily!" Sakura swept her into a tight hug. "It's been forever!"

The APB knew her habits well; he automatically moved to the empty seat on Sakura's left so she could take the corner outside chair.

"I know!" Lily enthusiastically returned the hug. "I haven't ordered yet 'cause I was waiting for you. The usual?"

"You know it!"

The APB grabbed a sushi menu and a pencil from the cup and scribbled their orders down without asking what they wanted. Lily watched him write with interest.

"Oh," Sakura realized. "Lily, this is Sasuke Uchiha, a friend from school. Sasuke, this is Lily, my best friend."

When Sasuke slid the order form to the end of the table, Lily took a cursory look at it. "You really are the Anime Paper Boy," she remarked. "You know everything we want to order."

Sasuke shrugged. "Habit, I suppose. Does that weird you out?"

Lily laughed. "No way! It's just further proof that we have no lives and practically live here. So tell me, Sasuke, how do you like Ann Arbor so far?"

* * *

Lunch was enjoyable, much to Sasuke's surprise. Lily was a fun conversationalist and had millions of stories to tell about her work in the fashion industry and on indie film sets. He could see why she was Sakura's best friend; the two girls were like two sides of the same coin.

Sasuke was sure it was going to be awkward, but Lily had a way of loosening up people and making them feel comfortable. By the time their food arrived, with an ecstatic Ms. Chu serving them and saying how good it was to see him again, Sasuke felt like he had known her forever.

After lunch, they went their separate ways, and Lily promised to drive down to Ann Arbor next weekend for a visit.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Sakura prodded him once they started driving.

"It was fun," he admitted. "She's a nice person."

Sakura beamed. "Lily's the best," she said with a note of pride. "So, what was it like being the customer instead of the employee at the restaurant?"

"Weird."

She laughed.

* * *

Karin sat in the library at Eastern, browsing facebook, while Suigetsu tried to do his homework. The two of them, along with Juugo, transferred to Eastern last fall to finish their bachelor's degrees. Karin and Juugo were microbiology majors and Suigetsu was a chemistry major like Sasuke.

Sasuke's status update made her giggle, distracting Suigetsu from his homework. He looked over her shoulder and laughed as well.

_Sakura Haruno is the bestest bestest bestest person ever! You all should bow before her greatness!_

Forty people liked the status, most of them people Karin never heard of. A lot of people left a comment stating the obvious: Sasuke had been foolish enough to leave his facebook logged in and the Haruno girl hijacked his account. Somewhere in the middle of all the comments, Sasuke left his own, grumbling about how evil the girl was and she didn't need to rub it into his face that she scored higher than him on their last Orgo II exam.

"He's gone soft," Suigetsu mused. "He never left his facebook open before."

Karin hit "like" before opening up to Sakura's profile. She sent in a friend request and contemplated Suigetsu's last words.

Did Sasuke go soft? She scrolled through his timeline before deciding that no, her best friend was still the same stoic, know-it-all, soccer-obsessed jerkface.

At the same time, he wasn't. Something in Sasuke changed since Christmas and Karin was hard-pressed to find out what.

"Sasuke spends a lot of time hanging out with people," Suigetsu noted.

Karin scrolled back up to the top and looked through the last month again. Suigetsu was right; Sasuke was tagged in about fifty photos, most of them from intramural soccer matches, a few of him studying in the library, a couple random photos, and dozen group shots of the AASA kids. Additionally, he had been tagged in thirty different status updates about various things from soccer-related posts to studying woes.

In every post, he had been tagged either with or by a Haruno. Obviously, the soccer posts were done by Sai and the studying posts by Sakura.

"Oh look, he's been tagged in something else."

Karin clicked on the new update. Sakura Haruno posted: _Sasuke Uchiha is the most awesome being to grace the universe. I am nothing without him._

Suigetsu roared with laughter. "That's got Sasuke written all over it!"

She liked the status and noticed Sakura accepted her friend request. A notification popped up and Karin clicked on it.

_サスケ！てめはばかですよ！_

She giggled and liked the comment, adding one of her own in the same language to support the other woman's claim to Sasuke's stupidity. An Ino Yamanaka also commented in English that Sasuke was also the sexiest being the grace the universe.

The idea brewing in her head was going to get her yelled at by Sasuke later, but Karin didn't care. This was too much fun.

_Have you seen Sasu-cakes without his shirt? Nothing to look at. Now, his friend Sai is a delicious specimen of the male gender. ;)_

This Ino instantly replied: _Woman, you lie! Sasuke is definitely a hotter man than Sai... that's my cousin you're talking about! UGH! I don't want to think about him naked!_

Suigetsu was on facebook using his iPod touch. Whistling, he scrolled through Ino's profile. "Damn, she's hot! Sasuke totally lied about not knowing any hot women."

She ignored him. _Well, he's not MY cousin so I'm allowed to think he's hot. _

Finally, the person she waited for signed in.

_Karin, stop posting your disturbing fantasies on my facebook._

* * *

On the morning of their twenty-first birthday, Sai and Sakura were rudely awakened by being pulled out of bed.

"Pig, get off of me!" Sakura screeched.

Next door, they could hear Sai swearing as he wrestled with Naruto. A loud _thump!_ made the girls wince and Naruto cussed loudly.

"Get the hell out of my room!" Sai slammed the door shut.

It was Spring Break again and contrary to popular belief, the twins were not hungover even though they did go out to the bars at midnight. Years of underage drinking taught Sai to hold his liquor. Sakura, on the other hand, seemed to possess an unusual tolerance.

"Get dressed!" Ino sang as she opened the blinds. "Everyone's meeting us for lunch at Olive Garden!"

She wondered who _everyone_ was.

* * *

Sai couldn't believe his cousins put this together. A long table at the back of the restaurant was filled with faces Sai knew. There were people from his high school soccer team, David included, the AASA kids, the Anime club, Sakura's high school cosplay crew, their childhood playmates, and Sasuke and his friends. Everyone clamored around him and his sister, yelling "Happy Birthday!"

Stealing a glance at Sakura, she wore a similarly shocked expression. Ino steered them to the middle of the table and sat them down. Sai took a long look at the table. Karishma and Nikki sat at the end of the table, chatting with Shikamaru and Chouji Akimichi. David was catching up with Shino Aburame and Kiba, who were both on the Bishop's soccer team. Neji was trying to catch Tenten's attention, but she ignored it to talk to his cousin, Hinata. Shizune sat serenely next to her long-time boyfriend.

On the other side, Tommy had his arm around his girlfriend Sarah, the two of them chatting with Joseph, Reagan, and Paul. Kira talked with Christine, Scott, Rick, Mark, and Katy before introducing herself and her friends to Karin, Suigetsu, Juugo, and Sasuke.

Across from them, Ino and Naruto wore smug smiles.

"Pretty good turn out, don't you think, Naruto-baka?" Ino elbowed him. "I can't believe you thought of this in the first place."

"Hey! I have good ideas, you know."

* * *

During dessert, the twins stood up.

"Guys, we don't know what to say," Sakura said. "We can't believe you all came together to celebrate our birthday with us. It's hard to believe this room contains the people who have shaped us into who we are today and who are most precious to us."

Sai let her talk. Sakura was always better with words; anything he said would come out sounding callous and sarcastic.

"Shizune, Naruto, Hinata, Neji, and Kiba were with us since we were toddlers. You guys have seen us at our very best and absolute worst and you've always been there."

While what she said was mostly true, he knew to anyone who knew them during high school, those words were a lie when applied to one particular person.

"David and Shino—you guys have been with Sai on the team since middle school. You've always got his back."

"Hell yeah we do!" David cheered.

"My crew," Sakura smiled at Kira and the others. "What would I do without you?"

"Crawl in a hole and die?" Christine offered.

"Probably," the Haruno girl laughed. "You guys are always there for me and I can't tell you enough how much I love each of you. Sarah and Reagan—I know I can count on you two for anything. Joseph, Paul, and Tommy—get your heads out of your asses."

They laughed.

"Nikki, Shikamaru, and Chouji: you guys always brighten up our day and have been some of the best friends we've made in college. Karin, Suigetsu, Juugo, even though we've only recently met, we can't thank you enough for thinking of us and being with us today."

Karin turned a little pink at her words.

"Ino, Tenten."

The two faced her eagerly.

"I tell you this all the time and Sai will never say it." The others chuckled. "But you two really are the best cousins anyone could ask for and we're proud to share blood with two extraordinary people."

Tenten dabbed at the corner of her eyes with a napkin.

"Finally, Sasuke and Karishma..."

Everyone looked at the two people who had yet to be mentioned.

"In college, they say if you meet that one right person, you will meet many more," Sakura said. "For us, Karishma is that one person. She introduced us to everyone we know at U of M and has been an invaluable friend. I know I say everyone is my best friend, but you, Kari, you're one of the best."

Karishma looked like she was going to start crying.

"Sasuke."

The Uchiha looked up at the sound of his name.

"Sai's never had a _best friend_ before, no one individual person he singled out," Sakura smiled. "But I think you're the closest thing to a best friend he'll ever have."

Sakura may not have caught it, but Sai definitely noticed the darkening aura around Naruto.

So did Ino, if the furtive looks she kept giving him were anything to go by.

It didn't matter if what Sakura said was true. Sai did consider Sasuke to be his best friend—the two of them spent almost all their time together. Sasuke was the only person, aside from Sakura, Sai spoke freely with.

Once upon a time, Naruto may have been that person but not anymore. The rift between him and Sakura affected Sai as well, torn between his twin sister and his oldest friend. He too noticed the changes in Naruto after he started dating Caroline Raskovich and they were changes Sai couldn't forgive him for.

"To us," Sakura raised her glass. "And to the years ahead."

_Clink!_

* * *

Author's Note:

I don't know why, but after writing that last line, I just thought, "Oh to hell with it, let's stop." There's so much more I could have written and probably _should_ have written but I'm honestly fried from spending the last two days writing this.

Also, I realized I've unconsciously set up a naming scheme for chapters and a basic timeline. But I'll leave it to you to figure it out. XP

Thank you again to all my reviewers and readers!

Ja ne!  
Callista Miralni


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